聖 means “holy, sacred, saint”

せい · sei

Also: sage, master

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ひじり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セイ, ショウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 6 · 13 strokes

The story

An ear (耳) and a mouth (口) above 王: picture one who hears the divine and speaks it aloud. 聖 is holy: 聖書 is the Bible, 聖火 the Olympic flame, and a 聖地 is a holy site, a word anime fans now use for real places shown on screen.

Used in 神聖 (shinsei, sacred), 聖地 (seichi, holy place), and 聖書 (seisho, the Bible)

More from Temple & Zen

• 浄 pure
• 悟 realize
• 仰 look up
• 僧 monk
• 尼 nun
• 禅 Zen
• 刹 temple
• 宗 religion
• 戒 guard against

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

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