Skip to content
Kotomora

肉

meat

JLPTN4StatusJōyō · grade 2FrequencyTop 1,000Strokes6

Readings

On'yomi

  • ニク

Kun'yomi

  • しし

Meaning

肉 centers on the physical substance of animals: meat, flesh, or muscle. It is the tangible, edible part of a body.

Most common words using 肉

23 of 355
  • 肉にく
    N5

    flesh

  • 筋肉きんにく
    N3

    muscle

  • 肉体にくたい
    N1

    the body; the flesh; the outer man; one's physique

  • 焼肉やきにく
    N1

    yakiniku; Japanese dish of grilled meat similar to Korean barbecue

  • 皮肉ひにく
    N2

    irony; sarcasm; cynicism; satire

  • 肉食にくしょく
    N1

    meat eating; eating of meat; meat diet

  • 牛肉ぎゅうにく
    N5

    beef

  • 豚肉ぶたにく
    N5

    pork

  • 鶏肉とりにく
    N5

    chicken meat

  • 肉屋にくや

    butcher's shop; butcher; meat shop

  • 食肉しょくにく

    meat (for consumption)

  • 肉眼にくがん
    N1

    naked eye

  • ひき肉ひきにく
    N1

    minced meat; ground meat

  • 肉親にくしん
    N1

    blood relationship; blood relative

  • 魚肉ぎょにく

    fish meat

  • 苦肉の策くにくのさく

    last resort; desperate measure taken under the pressure of necessity

  • 肉声にくせい

    natural voice (without a microphone)

  • 肉薄にくはく

    closing in on (the enemy, first place, etc.); coming close to; pressing hard

  • 肉筆にくひつ

    one's own handwriting; autograph

  • 肉体的にくたいてき

    bodily; physical; corporeal

  • 太り肉ふとりじし

    corpulent; fat; chubby

  • 鯨肉げいにく

    whale meat

  • 羊肉ようにく

    mutton; lamb (meat)

Explore all words using 肉 →

Study

Etymology

肉 is a pictograph of a piece of meat or flesh, with the modern form showing a stylized cut of meat with internal texture lines.

Meaning mnemonic

The outer shape is like a container, and the inner strokes look like strips or fibers of meat. Picture a cut of meat with visible grain.

Reading mnemonic

For ニク, imagine a piece of meat being cooked until it's nice and tender: nice -> ニク, and the meat is ready to eat.