文章
Meaning in Englishsentence, text, writing
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
What does 文章 mean? It refers to written language as a body of text, especially prose or a piece of writing; in everyday use it denotes the content that is written rather than spoken, and can also describe the craft of composing text.
Main meanings
- the body of written text, especially prose, essays, and articles
- literary expression or style in written form
- the main text portion of a document or article
How to use it
Used in formal and academic contexts to denote writing, prose, or the craft of composition; common in education, journalism, and literary criticism; contributes to phrases related to writing ability and textual analysis.
Variants and close terms
- 作文 sakubun — composition, essay
- 本文 honbun — main text, body text
- 文書 bunsho — document, formal writing
Composition
- 文 bun: writing, sentence, literature
- 章 shō: chapter, section
Etymology
文 (bun), 章 (shō) are the on'yomi readings; bunshō is formed by combining their on'yomi to denote written text.
Origin
Borrowed through Sino-Japanese scholarly usage; earliest attested usage in classical Chinese literature, adopted into Japanese during the Heian period, and later common in education and literature.
Word class
noun (名詞)