Skip to content
Kotomora

齢

age

JLPTN2StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 1,000Strokes17

Readings

On'yomi

  • レイ

Kun'yomi

  • よわい
  • とし

Meaning

齢 centers on the concept of age, specifically the number of years a person or living thing has lived.

Most common words using 齢

20 of 104
  • 年齢ねんれい
    N3

    age; years

  • 高齢こうれい
    N3

    advanced age; old age

  • 齢よわい

    (one's) age

  • 樹齢じゅれい

    age of a tree

  • 老齢ろうれい

    old age; advanced age

  • 適齢てきれい

    suitable age

  • 月齢げつれい

    age of the Moon; number of days since the new moon

  • 学齢がくれい

    school age

  • 妙齢みょうれい

    young (usu. of a woman); blooming; in the prime of youth; marriageable

  • 馬齢ばれい

    (one's own) age

  • 高齢者こうれいしゃ
    N2

    old person; elderly person; senior citizen

  • 年齢層ねんれいそう

    age range; age-group; age bracket

  • 適齢期てきれいき
    N1

    suitable age (esp. for marriage); marriageable age

  • 加齢かれい

    aging; ageing; growing older

  • 満年齢まんねんれい

    age (expressed in the Western style of counting fully completed years)

  • 高齢化こうれいか
    N3

    aging (of a population); ageing

  • 少子高齢化しょうしこうれいか
    N1

    declining birth rate and aging population

  • サービス付き高齢者向け住宅サービスつきこうれいしゃむけじゅうたく

    housing for the elderly with home-care services provided

  • 中高齢ちゅうこうれい

    middle and advanced age

  • 低年齢ていねんれい

    young (e.g. young children); of few years

Explore all words using 齢 →

Study

Etymology

齢 is the modern Japanese simplified form of 齡. The older form combines 齒 (teeth) with 令, which likely contributes the sound. Teeth were traditionally used to estimate age in animals, giving the character its meaning.

Meaning mnemonic

The left side 歯 means teeth, and the right side 令 looks like a person kneeling under a roof. Imagine checking a horse's teeth to determine its age—the longer the teeth, the older the horse.

Reading mnemonic

For レイ, picture a ray of light shining on an old person's teeth, revealing their age: ray -> レイ.