Onyomi: サイ, ス, セイ · Kunyomi: にし · Meanings: Spain, west
Kanji for spain, west
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The kanji 西 originally showed a picture of a bird’s nest, with something enclosed inside. In ancient times, the word for “nest” sounded similar to the word for “west,” so the symbol was borrowed for that direction. Later, people also connected it with the image of the setting sun — because the sun “returns to its nest” in the west each evening. So, 西 came to mean the west, the place where the sun rests.
Originally showing a bird’s nest, 西 became the symbol for the west — the direction where the sun returns home at the end of the day.
Picture the evening sky — the sun slowly sinking, returning to its nest in the west. That warm, glowing home of the setting sun is 西, the kanji for west.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 西 | にし | west | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 西 | せい | Spain | Noun |
| 西 | シャー | west wind tile | Noun |
| 西洋 | せいよう | the West, the Occident, Western countries | common JLPT-N4 Noun |
| 西暦 | せいれき | Common Era, CE, Christian Era, anno domini, AD | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 西日 | にしび | westering sun, setting sun, afternoon sun | JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 西瓜 | すいか | watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) | common Noun |
| チベット | チベット | Tibet | common Noun |
| 西部 | せいぶ | western part, the west (of a region) | common Noun |
| 西側 | にしがわ | west side, west bank | common Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |