五
Meaning in Englishfive
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
五 means the numeral five and serves as the standard Chinese-derived written digit in Japanese used to represent the quantity five or the fifth position in sequences; it appears in text, signage, numbering, and as a building block inside compound words where a numeric value is required.
Main meanings
- As a component forming ordinals or positions when combined with ordinal markers and counters (e.g., used to mark 'the fifth' in compound forms).
- As a multiplier or prefix meaning 'fivefold' in compound vocabulary and technical terms.
- In idiomatic or cultural expressions where the idea of 'five' denotes a set, group, or pattern rather than a strict count.
- As a numerical label for grades, levels, or rankings within systems that use single-character notation.
How to use it
Used across formal and informal contexts: in written numerals on signs, forms, and documents; inside compound words and ordinal constructions; in academic, commercial and administrative numbering; pronounced with the Sino-Japanese reading in compounds and the native reading when paired with native counting systems, with occasional use of an archaic variant in legal or financial contexts to prevent tampering.
Variants and close terms
- いつつ (itsutsu) - native Japanese counting word used for five items when using the traditional native system.
- 伍 (go) - archaic or formal variant sometimes used in legal/financial writing to prevent alteration of numbers.
- 五つ (itsutsu) - combination of the kanji with the native counting suffix used for counting objects in everyday speech.
Composition
As a single-kanji numeral, 五 (go) is not a compound of multiple characters; its modern shape derives from ancient pictographic and seal-script forms that stylized the idea of five into a small set of strokes, producing the compact, standardized character used today rather than a separable semantic-phonetic pair.
Origin
The character arrived in Japan with Chinese writing between the 5th and 8th centuries as part of the broader importation of kanji; numerals like 五 were adopted for record-keeping, calendars, taxation and official documents and then became integrated into native counting practices and vocabulary.
Word class
numeral (数詞)