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ホ Japanese meaning | Kotomora

ホ

ホ

○

Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

1

5th in iroha order; e (iroha)

Used in the traditional iroha ordering system, where ホ is the fifth kana. Also used as a label for the fifth item in a sequence.

See also: いろは順

いろは順じゅんで「ホ」は五ご番ばん目めです。
In the iroha order, ホ is the fifth.
座ざ席せきは「ホ」の列れつです

2

E (musical note)

Used mainly in key names and musical contexts to denote the note E.

この曲きょくはホ長ちょう調ちょうです。

Don't confuse with

ニ sense 1
ホ is the 5th kana in the iroha order and the musical note E, while ニ is the 4th kana and the note D, so the two are easy to mix up as adjacent members of the same sequence.
ハ sense 1
ホ marks the 5th position (note E) in the iroha/music ordering, whereas ハ marks the 3rd position (note C), so learners can confuse their order and pitch.
ロ sense 1

。

The seat is in row ホ.

This piece is in E major.

ホ is the 5th iroha letter and note E, while ロ is the 2nd iroha letter and note B, so they are often confused as similar ordering symbols despite different positions.

Etymology

Derived from the katakana character ホ, which represents the sound 'ho'. Its use as a sequence marker comes from the iroha poem ordering, and its musical note meaning is a conventional assignment in Japanese music notation.