冥 means “underworld, afterlife, dark”

めい · mei

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

くらい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

メイ, ミョウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

A lid (冖) closed over the sun (日): darkness that never lifts. 冥 is the dark world of the dead: condolences end with ご冥福をお祈りします, praying for happiness in the next world, and 冥王星, Pluto, is 'the star of the underworld king'.

Used in 冥福 (meifuku, happiness in the afterlife), 冥土 (meido, the land of the dead), and 冥王星 (meiousei, Pluto)

More from Ghosts & Demons

• 仙 hermit
• 霊 spirit
• 魔 demon
• 鬼 ogre
• 幻 illusion
• 怪 suspicious
• 魂 soul
• 妖 bewitching
• 幽 secluded
• 呪 curse

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

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