紺 means “navy blue, dark blue”

こん · kon

Also: navy

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

コン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

Thread (糸) beside 甘, sweet: picture yarn left in the dye vat until its blue turns deep and rich. 紺 is navy, the color of many Japanese school uniforms, and 紺碧 is the deep blue of a summer sea and sky.

Used in 紺色 (kon'iro, navy blue), 濃紺 (noukon, dark navy), and 紺碧 (konpeki, deep azure)

More from Shades & Dyes

• 藍 indigo
• 斑 spot
• 褐 brown
• 瑠 lapis lazuli
• 璃 lapis lazuli
• 鮮 vivid
• 染 dye
• 彩 color
• 丹 red
• 玄 dark
• 淡 pale
• 朱 vermilion

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

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