noun
Only with reading きょう
Refers to the historical imperial capital, especially Kyoto. Often used in historical or traditional contexts.
京は千年の都として知られている。
Kyoto is known as the thousand-year capital.
noun
final word of the iroha poem
Only with reading きょう
Specifically the last word of the classical iroha poem. This is a fixed literary reference, not a productive meaning.
See also: 伊呂波歌
いろは歌の最後の文字は「京」です。
The last character of the iroha poem is 京.
numeric
ten quadrillion; 10^16
A numeric unit meaning 10^16 (ten quadrillion). Usually read as けい, but きょう is also possible. Rare in everyday use; mainly encountered in large-number contexts.
1京は10の16乗です。
One 京 is 10 to the 16th power.
The kanji 京 originally depicted a high hill or capital city. Its use for the numeric unit 10^16 is a later extension, possibly from the idea of a 'great number'.