短 means “short”

みじかい · mijikai

Also: brevity, fault, defect

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

みじかい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

タン

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 3 · 12 strokes

The story

An arrow (矢) and a bean (豆): an arrow so short it's only bean-sized. 短歌 (tanka) is Japan's ancient poetry form, a "short song" of just 31 syllables that captures entire seasons of emotion. Japanese appreciates brevity: 短所 (tansho, shortcoming) acknowledges that even short things have their own truth.

Used in 短歌 (tanka, short poem), 短所 (tansho, shortcoming), and 短期 (tanki, short-term)

Words with 短

• 長短 (ちょうたん, choutan): pros and cons
• 短期 (たんき, tanki): short-term
• 短歌 (たんか, tanka): tanka (31-syllable poem)

Example sentences

• この鉛筆は短いです。 This pencil is short.
• 短い時間で終わりました。 It finished in a short time.

More from Measurement & Size

• 広 wide
• 狭 narrow
• 重 heavy
• 軽 light (weight)
• 深 deep
• 浅 shallow
• 厚 thick
• 薄 thin
• 低 low
• 遅 slow
• 量 quantity
• 測 measure

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