Onyomi: シキ, ショク · Kunyomi: いろ · Meanings: color
Kanji for color
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
Experience 色 in 3D! View the complete 3D Kanji model to understand its shape and stroke depth from every angle. Click the button below to see 色 in 3D and explore how each stroke forms this character.
Please support us by sharing!
Find visually similar kanji, commonly confused characters, related meanings, and useful words connected to 色.
The kanji 色 originally depicted a person (the bottom part) with a component showing an appearance or form, symbolizing the visual quality of things. Over time, 色 came to mean color, appearance, or beauty — what is seen by the eyes. It represents the variety, expression, and vibrancy in the world around us.
A person with visible form — 色 means color, appearance, or the way something looks.
Imagine seeing all the colors and shapes around you — that’s 色, the kanji for color and visual appearance.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 色 | いろ | colour, color, hue, tint, tinge, shade | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 色 | しょく | counter for colours | Counter |
| 色 | しき | rupa (form) | Noun |
| 色々 | いろいろ | various, a variety of, all sorts of, many (different) | common JLPT-N1 JLPT-N5 Na-adjective (keiyodoshi), Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 色彩 | しきさい | colour, color, hue, tints | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 色気 | いろけ | colouring, coloring, shade of colour (color) | common Noun |
| 色合い | いろあい | colouring, coloring, shade (of colour), hue, tone, tinge, tint | common Noun |
| 色調 | しきちょう | color tone, colour tone | common Noun |
| 色んな | いろんな | various, a variety of, all sorts of, many (different) | common Pre-noun adjectival (rentaishi) |
| 伊呂波 | いろは | traditional ordering of the Japanese syllabary | common Noun |