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Kotomora

便

convenience, facility, excrement, feces, letter, chance

JLPTN4StatusJōyō · grade 4FrequencyTop 1,000Strokes9

Readings

On'yomi

  • ベン
  • ビン

Kun'yomi

  • たよ.り

Meaning

便 centers on making things easy and smooth: convenience, a useful facility, or a favorable chance. The letter sense is a natural extension of easy communication, while the excrement/feces sense is a euphemistic application of bodily convenience.

Most common words using 便

23 of 281
  • 便びん
    N3

    flight (e.g. airline flight); trip (e.g. train trip); sailing (e.g. ferry voyage); service

  • 便利べんり
    N5

    convenient; handy; useful

  • 郵便ゆうびん
    N3

    mail service; postal service; mail; post

  • 便秘べんぴ
    N2

    constipation

  • 不便ふべん
    N5

    inconvenience; inexpediency; unhandiness

  • 便乗びんじょう
    N1

    taking advantage of (an opportunity); jumping on the bandwagon

  • 便所べんじょ
    N2

    toilet; lavatory; water closet; restroom; bathroom

  • 利便りべん

    convenience

  • 小便しょうべん
    N2

    urine; piss; pee; urination

  • 便宜べんぎ
    N1

    convenience; accommodation; advantage; benefit; expediency

  • 宅急便たっきゅうびん

    TA-Q-BIN (express home delivery service provided by Yamato Transport)

  • 便りたより
    N3

    news; tidings; information; correspondence; letter

  • 穏便おんびん

    gentle; peaceable; amicable; quiet

  • 大便だいべん
    N1

    feces; faeces; excrement; stool

  • 便箋びんせん
    N2

    writing paper; stationery; notepaper

  • 船便ふなびん
    N4

    surface mail (by ship); sea mail

  • 郵便局ゆうびんきょく
    N5

    post office

  • 便利さべんりさ

    convenience; handiness; usefulness

  • 航空便こうくうびん
    N4

    airmail; air mail

  • 定期便ていきびん

    regular service

  • 宅配便たくはいびん
    N4

    express home delivery service

  • 速達便そくたつびん
    N1

    special delivery mail; express delivery post

  • 直行便ちょっこうびん

    non-stop flight; direct flight

Explore all words using 便 →

Study

Etymology

便 combines 亻 (person) with 更, which likely contributes both sound and the idea of changing or passing through, suggesting a person making things flow smoothly.

Meaning mnemonic

A person 亻 beside 更 (change) suggests someone adapting things for ease: making life convenient, sending a letter, or taking a chance. Even the bathroom sense fits—making a bodily process convenient.

Reading mnemonic

For ベン, imagine a person using a convenient bench to rest while writing a letter: bench -> ベン, and the person 亻 finds it so easy.