写真
Meaning in Englishphoto
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
写真 (shashin) means a photograph: a visual representation of a scene or subject produced by a camera or photographic process, used to record, share, or study visual information. It denotes the concrete object or file that displays light-and-tone information captured from reality, and is understood in everyday English contexts as either a printed picture or a digital photo.
Main meanings
- 1. A printed or digital image kept as a record or memento — the physical print or the image file rather than the act of taking it.
- 2. An identification or passport picture used for official documents.
- 3. The result of a photographic session: an individual shot among many taken during an event.
- 4. A casual snapshot shared on social media, distinguished from staged or professional photography by intent and style.
- 5. A figurative use meaning a depiction or representation (e.g., describing a clear depiction of a situation).
How to use it
Used widely across registers, from casual conversation to formal documentation: it appears in personal contexts (family albums, social posts), professional contexts (photojournalism, exhibitions), and administrative uses (IDs, passports); it functions as a noun and commonly appears inside compound words naming photographers, studios, and activities related to photography.
Variants and close terms
- 画像 (gazō) — image (broader, often digital or graphic).
- フォト (foto) — photo (loanword, casual/marketing tone).
- 写生 (shasei) — sketching from life (different medium; contrastive term).
- 絵 (e) — picture/painting (traditional painted image; a useful contrast).
Composition
- 写 (sha) — to copy, to depict; suggests reproduction or mirroring of a subject.
- 真 (shin) — true, reality; denotes authenticity or truthfulness.
- The two characters together convey the idea of a reproduced truth or a depiction of reality, which is the semantic basis for the term meaning 'photograph'.
Origin
The concept entered Japan with Western photography in the mid-19th century (late Bakumatsu and early Meiji periods); foreign photographers and photographic technology appeared in treaty ports like Yokohama, leading to the rapid establishment of studios and the adoption of the compound term to name the new medium and its products in Japanese society.
Word class
noun (名詞)