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
N1
日向
hinata
sunny place, in the sun
N1
日の丸
hinomaru
the Japanese flag
N1
日焼け
hiyake
sunburn
N2
〜(日本) 式
~(nihon) shiki
custom,
N2
元日
ganjitsu
New Year's Day
N2
再三
saisan
again and again, repeatedly
N2
祭日
saijitsu
national holiday, festival day
N2
一昨昨日
sakiototoi
two days before yesterday, three days ago
N2
三角
sankaku
triangle, triangular
Kanji