紀 means “chronicle, era, record”

き · ki

Also: account, narrative, history

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 5 · 9 strokes

The story

A thread (糸) wound around a spool (己): picture time reeled in, neat and in order. 紀 keeps the record: 世紀 is a century, 紀元前 is BC, and the 日本書紀, finished in 720, is one of Japan's oldest histories.

Used in 世紀 (seiki, century), 紀元前 (kigenzen, BC), and 紀行 (kikou, travel writing)

More from Moments & Eras

• 節 joint
• 既 already
• 暫 temporary
• 旬 in season
• 即 immediate
• 瞬 instant
• 恒 constant
• 曽 great- (generation)
• 徐 slowly
• 疾 disease
• 頻 frequent
• 暦 calendar

Learn 紀 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.