肘ひじ

ひ

じ

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

Refers to the joint between the upper and lower arm. Used in everyday contexts.

転ころんで肘ひじをすりむいた。

I fell and scraped my elbow.

〈物もの〉に肘ひじをつくto rest one's elbow(s) on something
テーブルに肘ひじをついて話はなしを聞きいた。
I listened with my elbows resting on the table.
肘ひじで〈人ひと〉を突つくto nudge/jab someone with one's elbow
彼かれは肘ひじで私わたしをこっそり突ついた。
He gave me a discreet nudge with his elbow.
肘ひじを曲まげるto bend one's elbow
肘ひじを曲まげて重おもい荷に物もつを持もった。
I bent my elbow to carry the heavy load.

膝ひざN4
肘 refers to the elbow joint of the arm, while 膝 refers to the knee joint of the leg, and learners often mix up which limb each belongs to.
洲ひじ
肘 (elbow) shares the exact reading ひじ with 洲 but refers to a body part, whereas 洲 is an archaic word for a mid-ocean sandbank.

肘ひじUsage55%
Standard kanji spelling for 'elbow'.
ひじUsage27%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji is not needed.
ヒジUsage8%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is sometimes used for emphasis or in informal contexts.
臂ひじUsage7%

Native Japanese word. The kanji 肘 is a phono-semantic compound with 肉 (flesh) and 寸 (measurement), originally referring to the forearm or elbow.

one elbow

bracket; corbel; ancon

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rarely-used kanji form

Rarely used kanji form for 'elbow'.

肱ひじUsage3%

rarely-used kanji form

Rarely used kanji form for 'elbow'.