眠 means “sleep, sleepy”

ねむる · nemuru

Also: die

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ねむる, ねむい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ミン

JLPT N3 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

The eye (目) beside 民, the people: picture a whole town's eyes closing at once. 眠る is to sleep, 眠い is sleepy, and Tokyo trains are famous for 居眠り, dozing upright, somehow waking at the right stop.

Used in 眠る (nemuru, to sleep), 眠い (nemui, sleepy), and 睡眠 (suimin, sleep)

More from Life & Breath

• 活 lively
• 歳 age
• 身 body
• 若 young
• 命 life
• 亡 pass away
• 老 old age
• 抱 hug
• 息 breath
• 吸 inhale
• 祖 ancestor
• 腹 belly

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

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