蛇 means “snake”

へび · hebi

Also: serpent, hard drinker

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

へび

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ジャ, ダ, イ, ヤ

Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

In Japanese mythology, the white snake is a messenger of Benzaiten, goddess of wealth. Finding a shed snakeskin is considered extremely lucky: keep it in your wallet for fortune.

Used in 大蛇 (daija, giant serpent) and 蛇口 (jaguchi, faucet; lit. "snake mouth")

More from Animals & Creatures

• 兎 rabbit
• 象 elephant
• 竜 dragon
• 亀 turtle
• 猿 monkey
• 鯨 whale
• 狐 fox
• 蛙 frog
• 犬 dog
• 猫 cat
• 牛 cow
• 馬 horse

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

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