Onyomi: ショウ · Kunyomi: お-, こ-, さ-, ちい.さい · Meanings: little, small
Kanji for little, small
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The kanji 小 originated as a simple image of three small dots or marks, representing tiny pieces or grains scattered together. In ancient scripts, it symbolized something of small size, little importance, or fine detail. The character visually contrasts with 大 (big), showing how just a few strokes can express something modest and light. Over time, this symbol came to embody the idea of “smallness” — in size, quantity, or feeling — and it remains one of the most fundamental visual ideas in the kanji system.
Formed from three short strokes representing tiny pieces, 小 expresses smallness, delicacy, and things that are limited in size or amount.
This kanji declares: three little marks show what is small — 小 represents what is tiny, light, or modest, the opposite of great or large.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 小 | しょう | smallness, small item | common JLPT-N3 Noun, Noun, used as a prefix |
| 小 | こ | small, little, slight | common Prefix |
| 小 | お | small, narrow | Prefix |
| 小 | ぐゎー | small, little, dear | Suffix |
| 狭 | さ | narrow, thin | Prefix |
| 細 | ささ | small, little | Prefix |
| 子供 | こども | child, children | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 小説 | しょうせつ | novel, story, (work of) fiction | common JLPT-N4 Noun |
| 小学校 | しょうがっこう | primary school, elementary school, grade school | common JLPT-N4 Noun |
| 少女 | しょうじょ | girl (usu. between 7 and 17), young lady | common JLPT-N3 JLPT-N1 Noun |