ChiramiN5 kanji · 9 strokes
食 means eat, food
食
食Real origin
It began as a bowl of food with a lid on top: to eat, food.
Real origin: where the kanji comes from, as far as scholars agree.
Meaning and readings
- Meanings
- eat, food
- JLPT level
- N5
- Strokes
- 9
- School grade
- Grade 2 in Japan
Japanese (kunyomi) くう kuu
くう (kuu) is the Japanese word for this kanji. You use it when the kanji stands alone or has kana after it. Dictionaries call this the kun reading.
Other Japanese readings: くらう kurau, たべる taberu, はむ hamu
From Chinese (onyomi) ショク shoku
ショク (shoku) came from Chinese with the character. You mostly hear it in words made of several kanji. Dictionaries call this the on reading.
Other readings from Chinese: ジキ jiki
Tap a reading to see when it's used. Why kanji have two kinds of reading: onyomi vs kunyomi.
Common word
食べる たべる · taberu
to eat
Used in 11 kanji
See all 3 at N5 and N4Quick check
What does 食 mean?
Right: 食 means eat, food.Not quite: 食 means eat, food.In 食べる, which reading does 食 use?
Right. 食べる is read たべる (taberu): 食 takes た, its Japanese reading, with べる after it.Not quite. 食べる is read たべる (taberu): 食 takes た, its Japanese reading, with べる after it.