銀行
Meaning in Englishbank
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
銀行 (ginkou) means "bank": a business that accepts deposits, provides loans, processes payments, and offers other financial services to individuals, companies, and governments; in everyday Japanese it refers to the legal, commercial institution or its physical branch where such financial transactions occur.
Main meanings
- Physical branch or office of a bank — the location where customers conduct in-person transactions.
- The banking sector or industry when discussing finance, regulation, or economic reports.
- A combining element in compounds that relate to banking services, systems, or institutions.
How to use it
Used in both spoken and written Japanese to refer to banks, bank branches, or banking as a service; neutral in register and appropriate for formal contexts (official documents, news, signage) as well as everyday conversation when discussing money, accounts, transfers, or where to go for financial services.
Variants and close terms
- 金融機関 (kinyū kikan) — financial institution (broader term including banks, trusts, and other entities)
- 信用金庫 (shinyō kinko) — credit union / mutual savings bank (a type of local financial institution)
- 地方銀行 (chihō ginkō) — regional bank (banks serving local prefectures or regions)
Composition
- 銀 (gin): "silver," historically associated with money and value.
- 行 (kō): originally "to go/line," here functioning in compound usage to denote an established business or institution; together they form the word for a banking institution.
Origin
The modern sense of 銀行 entered Japanese usage during the Meiji era (late 19th century) as Japan imported Western banking models and terminology; the kanji compound was adopted to label new commercial banks and the institutional functions they performed during rapid economic modernization.
Word class
noun (名詞)