Onyomi: ケン · Kunyomi: かしこ.い · Meanings: cleverness, intelligent, wisdom, wise
Kanji for cleverness, intelligent, wisdom, wise
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賢 is made from 臣 and 貝. 臣 means a watchful servant who observes carefully. 貝 represents valuables and was used for important things. A truly wise person observes carefully and uses valuable knowledge well. From this idea, 賢 came to mean wise or intelligent.
賢 is a careful observer who uses valuable knowledge.
Imagine a loyal servant (臣) carefully watching and learning, then using valuable shells (貝) as wisdom. That smart, thoughtful person is 賢.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 畏 | かしこ | yours sincerely, respectfully yours | Expressions (phrases, clauses, etc.) |
| 賢 | けん | intelligence, genius, scholarship, virtue | Noun, Na-adjective (keiyodoshi) |
| 賢い | かしこい | wise, clever, smart | common JLPT-N3 I-adjective (keiyoushi) |
| 賢明 | けんめい | wise, sensible, well-advised, intelligent, sagacious, prudent | common JLPT-N1 Na-adjective (keiyodoshi), Noun |
| 賢者 | けんじゃ | wise person, sage | Noun |
| 賢人 | けんじん | wise person, virtuous person, sage | common Noun |
| 賢母 | けんぼ | wise mother | Noun |
| 榊 | さかき | sakaki (species of evergreen sacred to Shinto, Cleyera japonica) | Noun |
| 賢所 | かしこどころ | palace sanctuary | Noun |
| 賢者の石 | けんじゃのいし | philosopher's stone | Expressions (phrases, clauses, etc.), Noun |