神
Meaning in Englishgod, deity, sacred spirit
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
神 means 'god' or 'deity' in Japanese. It denotes a supernatural being, sacred power, or spiritual presence venerated in religious practice and everyday language, and can also be used metaphorically to indicate something or someone with extraordinary, reverent status.
Main meanings
- 1. Spirits or supernatural forces in Shinto and folk belief distinct from organized monotheistic gods.
- 2. The quality of sacredness or divinity attributed to objects, places, or events.
- 3. A figurative sense meaning someone exceptionally skilled or revered in a field.
- 4. Generic plural sense referring to multiple deities or spiritual beings.
How to use it
Used in formal religious contexts (shrines, rituals, theological discourse), in place names and personal names, in everyday speech to praise excellence, and widely across media (literature, manga, anime); tone ranges from reverent in ritual settings to casual or hyperbolic in colloquial compliments.
Variants and close terms
- 神様 (kami-sama) — honorific form meaning 'god' or 'deity'
- 神々 (kamigami) — plural 'gods'
- 精霊 (seirei) — 'spirit', often used for lesser animistic beings
- 仏 (hotoke) — 'Buddha' or 'deceased spirit', conceptually distinct
- 悪魔 (akuma) — 'demon', often treated as an antonym in moral contexts
Composition
The character combines the ritual/altar radical 礻(on the left) indicating religious or sacred action and the component 申(on the right) serving as the phonetic element; together the parts evoke a spoken/announced presence connected to ritual, yielding the meaning of a divine or worshipped being.
Etymology
神 traces phonetically to Old Japanese kami, a word long pronounced kami in early inscriptions; linguists connect the term with an ancient root meaning 'above' or 'height', which evolved into a label for superior, unseen forces and beings rather than a loanword from another language.
Origin
The concept of 神 emerged from prehistoric animistic and nature-centered beliefs in Japan and became integral to Shinto practices; it was recorded in classical texts like the 8th-century Kojiki and Nihon Shoki as a category of deities and spirits embedded in local shrines, myths, and social rituals.
Word class
noun (名詞)