丹
rust-colored, red, red lead, pills, sincerity
Readings
On'yomi
- タン
Kun'yomi
- に
Nanori
- た
- たみ
- まこと
Meaning
丹 centers on a deep, earthy red color, like rust or red lead. The meanings of pills and sincerity are extensions: pills were often red in traditional medicine, and sincerity is associated with a pure, unadorned heart, like the color red.
Most common words using 丹
20 of 68- 丹に
red earth (i.e. containing cinnabar or minium); vermilion
- 丹波たんば
Tanba (former province located in parts of present-day Kyoto, Hyogo and Osaka prefectures)
- 伊勢丹いせたん
Isetan (department store)
- 牡丹ぼたん
tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa); moutan
- 切支丹キリシタン
Christianity (in feudal Japan); Christian
- 丹後たんご
Tango (former province located in the north of present-day Kyoto Prefecture)
- 丹念たんねんN1
painstaking; careful; meticulous; scrupulous; detailed; elaborate
- 丹田たんでん
point below the navel (a focus point for internal meditative techniques)
- 丹精たんせい
working earnestly; sincerity; diligence; effort; pains
- 契丹きったん
Khitan people; Khitai; Kitan; Kidan
- 丹頂たんちょう
red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis); Japanese crane
- 仁丹じんたん
Jintan (brand-name breath mint marketed as having various medicinal properties); refreshing candies resembling BBs or metallic dragees
- 両丹りょうたん
Ryōtan (region in Kansai corresponding to the two historical provinces of Tanba and Tango)
- 丹前たんぜん
large padded kimono
- 丹前風呂たんぜんぶろ
Tanzenburo (famous early Edo-period bathhouse)
- 丹唇たんしん
red lips
- 丹塗りにぬり
painting red; vermillion lacquering
- 丹州たんしゅう
Tanshū (the two former provinces of Tanba and Tango)
- 丹心たんしん
sincerity; faithfulness
- 丹朱たんしゅ
cinnabar; vermilion
Study
Etymology
丹 is a pictograph of a cinnabar mine or a container with red pigment inside. The dot represents the red substance, and the surrounding strokes form the container or mine shaft.
Meaning mnemonic
Picture a small container with a dot of red pigment inside. The dot is the red lead or rust-colored powder, and the container holds it. This red color was used in pills and symbolizes a sincere, unadorned heart.
Reading mnemonic
For タン, imagine a tan-colored rust on a metal container: tan -> タン, and the rust is the red color inside 丹.