Onyomi: シ · Kunyomi: よ, よ.つ, よっ.つ, よん · Meanings: four
Kanji for four
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The kanji 四 originally depicted an enclosure or boundary, symbolizing a set of four corners or directions. In early scripts, it represented completeness and structure, as the number four often marked stability — think of four walls, four seasons, or four points of the compass. Over time, 四 came to mean “four,” carrying the sense of order, balance, and the natural rhythm of life.
A square or enclosure with four sides — 四 means four, symbolizing stability, order, and completeness.
Imagine a square with four strong corners — that’s 四, the number four, holding everything steady and balanced.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 四 | し | four, 4 | common JLPT-N3 JLPT-N5 Numeric |
| 四 | スー | four | Numeric |
| 四つ | よっつ | four, 4 | common JLPT-N5 Numeric |
| 四季 | しき | the four seasons | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 四捨五入 | ししゃごにゅう | rounding (off; a number), rounding half away from zero | common JLPT-N2 Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 四角 | しかく | quadrilateral, square | common JLPT-N2 Na-adjective (keiyodoshi), Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', Noun |
| 四角い | しかくい | square, rectangular | common JLPT-N2 I-adjective (keiyoushi) |
| ４日 | よっか | 4th day of the month | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 四国 | しこく | Shikoku (smallest of the four main islands of Japan) | common Noun |
| 四天王 | してんのう | the Four Heavenly Kings (Dhrtarastra, Virudhaka, Virupaksa, and Vaisravana) | Noun |