Word
三日
Meaning in Englishthree days
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
三日 means three days or the third day of the month, used to indicate either a duration of three days or a calendar date.
Main meanings
- three-day duration
- the third day of a month (date reference)
- appears in compounds and idioms involving time or dates, such as 三日間
How to use it
Used as a noun to denote either a duration of three days or the third day of a month; in spoken Japanese it appears in constructions like 三日間 for three days, 三日後 for three days later, and as a date marker in calendar references.
Variants and close terms
- 三日間 — (みっかかん, mikkakan) three days
- 三日月 — (みかづき, mikazuki) crescent moon
- さんにち — (さんにち, sannichi) Sino-Japanese reading used in compounds
Composition
- 三 = three
- 日 = day, sun; together they form a unit indicating a three-day span or the third day
Etymology
三日 combines 三 (three) and 日 (day); the kun-reading mikka covers the native counting of days and the on-reading sannichi appears in Sino-Japanese terminology.
Origin
Origin traces to ancient Japanese counting with 日 as a day counter, influenced by the Chinese calendar and used in classical literature to denote the third day or a three-day period.
Word class
noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N2
三日月
mikazuki
crescent moon
N1
西日
nishibi
westering sun
N1
日夜
nichiya
day and night, always
N1
期日
kijitsu
fixed date, settlement date
N1
連日
renjitsu
every day
N1
三味線
shamisen
three-stringed Japanese guitar
N1
終日
shuujitsu
all day
N1
日頃
higoro
normally, habitually
N1
日取り
hidori
fixed date, appointed day
Kanji