帰国 (きこく) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

帰き国こく

き

こ

く

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

帰国する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Meanings

return to one's country; come back from abroad

Used when someone returns to their home country after being overseas. Common in news, travel, and formal contexts.

帰き省せいN2sense 2
帰省 is the standard modern word for returning to one's hometown for a visit, while 帰国 in this sense is now dated and mainly replaced by 帰省.
帰き郷きょう sense 2
帰郷 also means returning to one's hometown but carries a more literary or nostalgic tone than the dated hometown sense of 帰国.
帰き還かん
帰国 is the general word for returning to one's own country, while 帰還 is more formal and typically used for official, military, or space-mission returns.
送そう還かん
帰国 is the neutral, often voluntary act of returning to one's own country, while 送還 implies an official, sometimes forced, act of sending someone back.

出しゅっ国こくN1sense 1
出国 means leaving one's country, the direct opposite of 帰国's meaning of returning to it.
渡と航こう
渡航 means traveling abroad, while 帰国 means returning to one's home country.

帰き化かN1
帰化 shares the kanji 帰 with 帰国 but means naturalizing as a citizen of another country, not returning to one's own.
入にゅう国こくN1
帰国 means returning to one's own home country, whereas 入国 simply means entering any country, including foreign ones.
帰き宅たくN3
帰宅 means returning to one's house, whereas 帰国 means returning to one's home country; the two 帰- words are easily mixed up by learners.

回かいN4sense 1
帰国 is counted with 回 when talking about the number of times someone has returned to their country, e.g. 帰国は三回目だ.

帰き国こく者しゃ
returnee; person who has returned to their country
帰き国こく子し女じょ
returnee child; child who lived abroad
帰き国こく生せい徒と
returnee student; student who has returned to Japan after living abroad

Compound of 帰 (return) and 国 (country). The dated hometown sense reflects an older usage where 国 could refer to one's home province or region.