妻 means “wife”

つま · tsuma

Also: spouse

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つま

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

サイ

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 5 · 8 strokes

The story

A woman (女) with a hand reaching up to a hairpin: adorning herself for the wedding ceremony. In modern Japan, 妻 is the standard humble word a person uses for their own spouse, reflecting the language's layers of politeness.

Used in 夫妻 (fusai, husband and wife) and 妻子 (saishi, wife and children)

Where it comes from

Compound Ideographic (会意文字): A woman adorning herself with a hairpin.

Shows a hand reaching up to a hairpin above the character for woman (女). In ancient times, a woman adorned her hair for the wedding ceremony. The act of putting on the hairpin symbolized her new role as wife.

To remember it: A hand places a hairpin on a woman (女). She becomes a wife!

Example sentences

• 妻の誕生日にプレゼントを買いました。 I bought a present for my wife's birthday.
• 妻は先生です。 My wife is a teacher.

Kanji that look like 妻

• 要 (need/essential): 妻 has 女 at the bottom: a woman; 要 also has 女 but means "essential/need"

More from Family & Home

• 孫 grandchild
• 婚 marriage
• 育 raise
• 戸 door
• 寝 sleep
• 窓 window
• 屋 roof
• 床 floor
• 壁 wall
• 畳 tatami mat
• 室 room
• 柱 pillar

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

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