はんこ

は

ん

こ

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

personal seal; stamp; chop

usually written using kana alone

Everyday word for a physical seal or stamp used in Japan in place of, or alongside, a signature. Often appears in phrases such as はんこを押す, meaning to stamp a document.

Written forms

はんこUsage16%
It is usually written in kana; this hiragana spelling is a practical everyday form.
ハンコUsage72%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling given as a no-kanji reading; common in casual, commercial, or visually emphatic writing.
判はん子こUsage12%
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)
Attested kanji spelling, marked as ateji; readable and common enough to encounter, though kana is often preferred.

Kanji

判judgement, judgment, signature
子child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM

Similar words

印いん鑑かん
More formal and official-sounding than はんこ; often used for registered seals or in administrative contexts.
印いん章しょう
A more technical or formal term for a seal itself; はんこ is the ordinary everyday word.
サイン
Means a written signature rather than a seal; many forms ask for either サイン or はんこ.

Etymology

The kanji spelling 判子 is as ateji, i.e. a phonetic spelling rather than a transparent kanji derivation. The kana spellings はんこ and ハンコ are widely used.