Onyomi: ショウ · Kunyomi: き.える, け.す · Meanings: blow out, cancel, extinguish, neutralize, turn off
Kanji for blow out, cancel, extinguish, neutralize, turn off
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消 is made from 氵, meaning “water,” and 肖, which has the sense of becoming small or fading. Water washes things away, making them gradually disappear. From this idea of something fading or being wiped out, 消 came to mean to disappear, extinguish, or erase.
Water makes things fade and disappear. That disappearing is 消.
Think of water washing something until it’s gone. That fading away is 消.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 消費 | しょうひ | consumption, expenditure, spending | common JLPT-N3 Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 消す | けす | to erase, to rub out, to rub off, to cross out, to delete | common JLPT-N5 Godan verb with 'su' ending, Transitive verb |
| 消える | きえる | to disappear, to vanish, to go out of sight, to go away, to become lost | common JLPT-N5 Ichidan verb, Intransitive verb |
| 消化 | しょうか | digestion (of food) | common JLPT-N2 Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 消防署 | しょうぼうしょ | fire station | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 消防 | しょうぼう | fire fighting | common JLPT-N3 Noun |
| 消極的 | しょうきょくてき | negative, passive, half-hearted, unmotivated | common JLPT-N2 Na-adjective (keiyodoshi) |
| 消耗 | しょうもう | exhaustion, consumption, using up, dissipation, waste | common JLPT-N2 JLPT-N1 Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb, Intransitive verb |
| 消しゴム | けしゴム | eraser, rubber | common JLPT-N4 Noun |
| 消息 | しょうそく | news (from someone), letter, contact | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 消費者 | しょうひしゃ | consumer (of a product, service, etc.), customer, (end) user, buyer | common Noun |
| 消費税 | しょうひぜい | consumption tax (incl. sales tax, VAT, excise duty, etc.) | common Noun |
| 消防士 | しょうぼうし | firefighter, fireman | Noun |
| 消毒 | しょうどく | disinfection, sterilization, sterilisation | common JLPT-N2 Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 消滅 | しょうめつ | extinction, extinguishment, disappearance, vanishing, termination, lapse | common Noun, Suru verb |