noun
A broad word for what a plant bears: fruit, nuts, berries, or seed-like products. Common in phrases such as 実がなる, 木の実, 草の実, and 松の実.
庭の柿の木に実がなった。
The persimmon tree in the garden bore fruit.
リスが木の実を集めている。
A squirrel is gathering nuts.
草の実がズボンについた。
Grass seeds stuck to my pants.
noun
solid ingredients in soup; pieces in broth
Culinary use for the solid pieces in soup or broth, especially in expressions like みそ汁の実. The more general word 具 is also very common.
今日のみそ汁の実は豆腐とわかめだ。
The solid ingredients in today's miso soup are tofu and wakame.
noun
substance; real content
Figurative use for meaningful substance or real content, most often in set phrases such as 実のある and 実のない.
短い会議だったが、実のある話し合いができた。
It was a short meeting, but we had a substantive discussion.
彼の説明は長いだけで実がない。
His explanation is just long and has no real substance.
A more formal or technical word for fruit; 実 is shorter and broader in everyday speech.
The usual word for a seed as something to plant or the seed inside a fruit; 実 can refer more broadly to what a plant bears.
The common general word for ingredients or fillings in soup, rice balls, curry, and similar foods; 実 is narrower and often used for soup pieces.
Means the contents inside something more generally; 実 in the figurative sense emphasizes substance or meaningful content.
A native Japanese reading み conventionally written 実 for fruit, substance, or reality-related meanings. The rare spelling 子 is attested but not the normal modern spelling.