帝 means “emperor, sovereign”

てい · tei

Also: the emperor, god, creator

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

みかど

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

テイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

Picture a tall altar with a peaked top, draped in cloth (巾): the seat of a ruler over many lands. 帝 is emperor and empire: 皇帝 is an emperor like those of China or Rome, 帝国 an empire, and Tokyo's grand Imperial Hotel is the 帝国ホテル.

Used in 皇帝 (koutei, emperor), 帝国 (teikoku, empire), and 帝王切開 (teiousekkai, Caesarean section)

More from Emperors & Nobles

• 陛 majesty
• 姫 princess
• 后 empress
• 伯 count
• 陵 imperial tomb
• 妃 queen consort
• 勅 imperial order
• 詔 imperial edict
• 戴 be crowned with
• 侯 marquis
• 朕 imperial we
• 謁 audience (with royalty)

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

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