肉にく

に

く

○

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

noun

Edible animal flesh, the most common everyday sense.

noun

The soft substance of a human or animal body, often in contrast to bone or skin.

noun

The soft edible part of fruit or vegetables.

noun

physical body; flesh

The body as opposed to the spirit or mind; often in religious or philosophical contexts.

noun

Used for the thickness of objects, especially in compound words like 肉厚.

noun

The essential part or core of something, often used in expressions like 肉付け or 肉がつく.

noun

Specifically the pad used with a seal (印鑑), as in 印肉.

肉にくUsage99%
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
にくUsage1%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the meat sense.
ニクUsage1%

身み
身 refers to the body or one's person, often with a nuance of social or personal identity, while 肉 emphasizes the physical flesh.
肉にく体たい
肉体 is a more formal or literary term for the physical body, often used in philosophical or medical contexts.

The kanji 肉 is a pictograph of a piece of meat. The reading にく is the on'yomi, used in most compounds.