Onyomi: ヤ · Kunyomi: よ, よる · Meanings: evening, night
Kanji for evening, night
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The kanji 夜 combines the “evening” radical (亠) with elements representing darkness and a person beneath the sky. In ancient times, it depicted the night, the time when the sun sets and people rest. 夜 came to mean night, capturing quiet, darkness, and the calm of the evening hours.
A person under the dark sky — 夜 means night, the time of rest and quiet.
Imagine the sky darkening and stars appearing as you rest — that’s 夜, the kanji for night.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 夜 | よる | night, evening | common JLPT-N3 JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 夜 | や | counter for nights | Counter |
| 夜中 | よなか | middle of the night, dead of night | common JLPT-N3 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 夜明け | よあけ | dawn, daybreak | common JLPT-N3 Noun |
| 夜間 | やかん | night, nighttime | common JLPT-N2 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 夜更かし | よふかし | staying up late, sitting up late at night, keeping late hours | common JLPT-N1 Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |
| 夜更け | よふけ | late at night, small hours of the morning | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 夜具 | やぐ | bedding, bedclothes | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 夜食 | やしょく | supper, night meal, late-night snack, "fourth meal", midnight snack | Noun |
| 夜行性 | やこうせい | nocturnality, nocturnal habits | Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |