秋
Meaning in Englishautumn, fall
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Related sentences
There are no published items in this section yet.
Word context
What it means
秋 means autumn, the season between summer and winter. In Japanese usage, it designates that season in everyday speech, writing, and poetry, capturing cooler weather, harvest imagery, and the changing leaves.
Main meanings
- Season reference to autumn in calendars, weather reports, and general discourse.
- Symbolic associations with harvest, maturity, change, and nostalgia in literature and art.
- Common in compounds and phrases describing autumn phenomena or moods.
How to use it
Used as a common noun to denote autumn in everyday speech and formal writing. In casual contexts, one may simply use 秋 to refer to the season, while formal contexts may employ 秋季 or 秋期 to describe the autumn period; it also features in poetry and seasonal idioms.
Variants and close terms
- 晩秋 — late autumn; banshū
- 初秋 — early autumn; shoshū
- 秋風 — autumn wind; akikaze
Composition
秋 is a single kanji comprised of 禾 (grain/harvest) on the left and 火 (fire) on the right; together they symbolize the harvest season and the changing weather of autumn.
Etymology
Phono-semantic character: 秋 is composed as 禾 (grain) on the left and 火 (fire) on the right, a semantic-phonetic pairing that ties the idea of harvest to the term and influenced its pronunciation in historical Chinese and Japanese usage.
Word class
noun (名詞)