大

Meaning in English

big, large, great

Stroke order

Animated kanji stroke order

大

Sentence

Related sentences

N4 時間を大切にしてください。 Jikan o taisetsu ni shite kudasai. Please value your time. N4 大事な約束を守ります。 Daiji na yakusoku o mamorimasu. I keep important promises. N4 今から出るところだけど大丈夫？ Ima kara deru tokoro da kedo daijoubu I am about to leave now is that ok N4 そんなに急がなくても大丈夫だよ Sonna ni isoganakute mo daijoubu da yo You do not need to hurry that much N4 説明を聞きながら大切なポイントだけメモしておいた Setsumei o kikinagara taisetsu na pointo dake memo shite oita While listening to the explanation I noted only important points N4 この道をまっすぐ行けば大きな公園が見えてくるはずだよ Kono michi o massugu ikeba ookina kouen ga miete kuru hazu da yo If you go straight a big park should appear N4 日本語らしい表現を覚えるには、たくさん例文を読むのが大切だと思う Nihongo rashii hyougen o oboeru ni wa, takusan reibun o yomu no ga taisetsu da to omou To learn Japanese-like expressions, I think reading many example sentences is important N4 そんなに心配しなくても、きっと大丈夫だよ Sonna ni shinpai shinakute mo, kitto daijoubu da yo You do not need to worry that much, it will surely be okay

Dictionary

Word context

What it means

大 means "big" or "large"; it denotes magnitude, extent, or prominence and functions as a basic semantic element in Japanese to mark things that are physically large, extensive in scope, or significant.

Main meanings

1. Indicates greatness or importance beyond mere physical size, often used to describe significance or rank.
2. Marks maturity or adulthood when combined with words that denote persons.
3. Functions as a colloquial intensifier that amplifies emotion or preference in spoken language.
4. Acts as an abbreviation or label in names and classifications to signal a major category or large scale.

How to use it

Appears in both written and spoken Japanese as a standalone symbol on signs and labels, as a morpheme in compound nouns and adjectives, and as a conversational intensifier; reading choices and grammatical behavior depend on whether it serves as a native adjective element (kun'yomi contexts) or as part of Sino-Japanese compounds (on'yomi contexts), and it is common in formal writing as well as informal speech.

Variants and close terms

大きい (ookii) — big (adjective)
偉大 (idai) — great, illustrious
巨大 (kyodai) — gigantic, enormous
小 (shou / chiisai) — small (antonym)

Composition

The character is a single pictographic kanji: its strokes depict a stylized human figure with outstretched arms (interpreted as breadth), the vertical stroke representing a body and the lateral strokes suggesting extended limbs; that visual conveys the idea of largeness or expansiveness inherent in the character.

Etymology

大 (on readings dai, tai; kun reading oo) reflects phonetic borrowing from Middle Chinese pronunciations that evolved into the Japanese on'yomi, while the native Japanese kun'yomi represents an indigenous word for largeness adapted to the character.

Origin

The character arrived in Japan with Chinese writing during the early centuries of the first millennium (around the 5th–6th centuries), becoming part of classical writing and then standard kanji usage; over time it was applied across administrative, religious and everyday vocabulary to label size, rank, and importance.

Word class

Kanji; morpheme/prefix; noun (漢字, 接頭語, 名詞)

Word

Related words by kanji and components

N3 重大 juudai serious, important,重大 N3 偉大 idai great, grand, extraordinary N3 大いに ooi ni greatly, considerably, very much N3 大家 ooya landlord, property owner N3 大人しい otonashii quiet, docile, well-behaved N3 拡大 kakudai expansion, enlargement, magnification N3 巨大 kyodai huge, gigantic, enormous N3 大会 taikai tournament, convention, large meeting N3 大気 taiki atmosphere, air

Kanji