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Kotomora

監

oversee, official, govt office, rule, administer

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 500Strokes15

Readings

On'yomi

  • カン

Kun'yomi

—

Nanori

  • けん

Meaning

監 centers on watching over something with authority: overseeing, administering, or ruling from an official position. The idea of a government office follows naturally from that supervisory role.

Most common words using 監

20 of 155
  • 監督かんとく
    N3

    supervision; control; superintendence; direction

  • 監視かんし
    N1

    monitoring; watching; observation; surveillance; guarding; supervision; lookout

  • 監査かんさ

    inspection; audit; judgement; judgment

  • 監禁かんきん
    N1

    confinement; imprisonment; incarceration

  • 監修かんしゅう

    (editorial) supervision; general editorship

  • 監獄かんごく

    prison

  • 収監しゅうかん

    imprisonment

  • 監察かんさつ

    inspection; inspector

  • 監げん

    special Nara-period administrative division for areas containing a detached palace (Yoshino and Izumi)

  • 総監そうかん

    inspector general; commissioner

  • 監理かんり

    superintendence; supervision; administration

  • 警視総監けいしそうかん

    Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police

  • 助監督じょかんとく

    assistant director (in taking professional movies)

  • 監事かんじ

    auditor; controller; comptroller

  • 監護かんご

    custody and care

  • 監訳かんやく

    supervising a translation

  • 舎監しゃかん

    dormitory dean

  • 監房かんぼう

    (prison) cell; ward

  • 監査役かんさやく

    auditor; inspector

  • 監察官かんさつかん

    inspector; supervisor

Explore all words using 監 →

Study

Etymology

監 originally depicted a person bending over a vessel of water to see their reflection, combining 臣 (eye) and 皿 (dish). This gave the idea of looking closely, which later extended to overseeing or inspecting.

Meaning mnemonic

The top part looks like an eye (臣) peering down into a dish (皿) to inspect its contents. Picture an official bending over a bowl to oversee everything inside.

Reading mnemonic

For カン, imagine a can of official documents that an overseer inspects: can -> カン, and the official looks down into the can like looking into a dish.