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JAPANESE · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

身.

mi · mu · mukuro · shin · Third grade kyōiku kanji

body

1 character日本語 language

Meaning & usage

characterThird grade kyōiku kanji
  1. body

    kanji
  2. identity

    kanji
nounshin[ɕĩɴ]
  1. a body

Where this word comes from

From Middle Chinese 身 (syin, “body, self”).

nounmu[mɯ̟]
  1. a body

    in-compounds
Where this word comes from

From Old Japanese. Bound form of mi above, only found in compounds.

nounmi[mʲi]
  1. a body

  2. the main part of something the blade of a sword (as opposed to the handle)

  3. the main part of something meat, flesh (as opposed to skin and bone)

  4. the main part of something wood (as opposed to the bark)

  5. oneself

    無職の身として
    「時の流れに身をまかせ」
  6. one's position, one's social standing, one's circumstances

Where this word comes from

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *muy. Cognate with 実 (mi, “seed, fruit, offspring”). Standalone form of mu below. See also the etymology of 神 (kami, kamu). Compare Korean 몸 (mom, “body”).

nounmukuro[mɯ̟kɯ̟ɾo̞]
  1. a living body

  2. 躯, 骸: a dead body, a corpse

  3. a rotten tree trunk

Where this word comes from

From Old Japanese. Compound of 身(む) (mu, “body”, bound form of standalone mi) + くろ (kuro). The derivation of the kuro element is uncertain, but it might be an alteration or ancient form of 幹(から) (kara, “trunk, main part”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.