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Kotomora

大

large, big

JLPTN5StatusJōyō · grade 1FrequencyTop 100Strokes3

Readings

On'yomi

  • ダイ
  • タイ

Kun'yomi

  • おお-
  • おお.きい
  • -おお.いに

Nanori

  • うふ
  • お
  • おう
  • た

Meaning

大 centers on the idea of largeness or bigness in size, scale, or importance.

Most common words using 大

24 of 3,687
  • 大おお
    N3

    large; big; great; major; important; serious; heavy; loud

  • 大だい
    N3

    large; big; great; huge; vast; major; important; serious; severe

  • 大丈夫だいじょうぶ
    N5

    safe; secure; sound; problem-free; without fear; all right; alright; OK; okay

  • 大きいおおきい
    N5

    big; large; great

  • 大阪おおさか
    N5

    Osaka (city, prefecture)

  • 大変たいへん
    N5

    very; greatly; terribly; awfully

  • 大学だいがく
    N5

    university; college

  • 大きなおおきな
    N5

    big; large; great

  • 大事だいじ
    N4

    important; serious; crucial

  • 最大さいだい
    N3

    biggest; greatest; largest; maximum

  • 大人おとな
    N5

    adult; grown-up

  • 大会たいかい
    N4

    mass meeting; convention; rally; conference; assembly; gathering

  • 大好きだいすき
    N5

    liking very much; loving (something or someone); adoring; being very fond of

  • 大切たいせつ
    N5

    important; significant; serious; crucial

  • 大統領だいとうりょう
    N4

    president (of a country)

  • 大量たいりょう
    N3

    large quantity; massive (quantity); mass (e.g. mass production, mass transit, mass destruction)

  • 拡大かくだい
    N3

    expansion; extension

  • 巨大きょだい
    N3

    huge; gigantic; enormous

  • 大臣だいじん
    N3

    cabinet minister

  • 大型おおがた
    N3

    large; large-sized; large-scale; big

  • 大手おおて
    N2

    major company; big company

  • 大分だいぶ
    N4

    considerably; greatly; a lot

  • 大体だいたい
    N5

    generally; on the whole; mostly; almost; nearly; approximately; roughly; about

  • 大半たいはん
    N3

    majority; more than half; most (of)

Explore all words using 大 →

Study

Etymology

大 is a pictograph of a person with arms and legs spread wide, conveying the idea of something large.

Meaning mnemonic

Picture a person standing with arms and legs stretched out as far as possible, making themselves look big: 大 means large.

Reading mnemonic

For ダイ, imagine a giant die (as in dice) that is so large it takes up the whole room: die -> ダイ, and its size is 大.