食 means “eat, food”

しょく · shoku

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): くう, くらう, たべる, はむ
On'yomi (Chinese reading): ショク, ジキ

JLPT N5 · Taught in grade 2 · 9 strokes

The story

A person taking in the goodness of the earth: eating as spiritual and nourishing act.

Used in words like "breakfast," "lunch," and "dinner"

Where it comes from

Compound Ideographic (会意文字): A bowl of food with a lid: prepared meal.

The original pictograph showed a covered food vessel: a bowl of prepared food with a lid on top to keep it warm. The top strokes represent the cover, and the bottom represents the vessel full of food.

To remember it: A lid (人一) over a container of food. Dinner is served!

Its parts

人 Person · Top
良 Good · Bottom

What is good (良) for a person (人): food, to eat

Words with 食

和食 (わしょく, washoku): Japanese cuisine
飲食 (いんしょく, inshoku): food and drink
食料 (しょくりょう, shokuryou): food supplies
食塩 (しょくえん, shokuen): table salt
食事 (しょくじ, shokuji): meal
軽食 (けいしょく, keishoku): light meal / snack

Example sentences

朝ごはんを食べましたか。 Did you eat breakfast?
何を食べたいですか。 What do you want to eat?
日本食が大好きです。 I love Japanese food.

Kanji that look like 食

良 (good): 良 lacks the top dot that 食 has; food needs that extra ingredient

More from Food & Dining

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