辺へん

〈場ば所しょ〉の辺へんに〈物もの〉があるthere is something around 〈場所〉
駅えきの辺へんに新あたらしいカフェができた。
A new café opened up near the station.
この辺へんで〈動どう詞し〉to do something at this point; to leave it here
この辺へんで会かい議ぎを終おわりにしましょう。
Let's end the meeting around here.
〈物もの〉の辺へんの長ながさthe length of the side of a shape
三さん角かく形けいの辺へんの長ながさを測はかる。
Measure the length of the side of the triangle.

Expressions

どの辺へんwhereabouts; what part; which area · how much; what point; to what extent
ここら辺へんaround here; in this area; this neighborhood
どこらへんwhere; whereabouts
その辺へんにするleave it at that; let it be; stop there

Kanji

辺environs, boundary, border

Related words

辺あたりN4sense 1
あたり is the everyday, freely productive word for 'around/vicinity' and can attach to almost any place, while 辺 tends to appear in fixed patterns like この辺 or 〜のへん.
付ふ近きんN2sense 1
付近 is a more formal, written-style word for 'vicinity' often seen in notices and announcements, whereas 辺 is used mainly in casual spoken expressions.
近きん所じょN4sense 1
近所 refers specifically to the neighborhood right around one's home, while 辺 is a vaguer, more general term for an area.
側がわN3sense 2
側 describes a side in a spatial or positional sense (like 右側), whereas 辺 refers specifically to the side of a geometric figure such as a triangle.

Don't confuse with

変へんN4
辺 (へん, 'area/side') and 変 (へん, 'strange/change') are pronounced identically but are unrelated in meaning and written with different kanji.
片へん
片（へん）counts small broken pieces, while 辺（へん）refers to an area or vicinity, and the two are easy to mix up by sound alone.

Word family· 69

周しゅう辺へんN2
area around; vicinity; outskirts; environs · peripheral device; computer peripheral
近きん辺ぺん
neighborhood; vicinity; surrounding area
底てい辺へん
base of a polygon · bottom of the social scale; lower levels; lower classes · base; foundation; basis
辺へん境きょう
remote region; frontier; border district

Written forms

辺へんUsage63%
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
へんUsage37%
Kana spelling is common in informal writing, especially for the vicinity sense.

Etymology

The kanji 辺 originally meant 'boundary' or 'edge' in Chinese. In Japanese, it developed the extended meaning of 'vicinity' or 'area' through the idea of the surrounding region.

身しん辺ぺん

one's person; personal surroundings

Show 18 more

一いっ辺ぺん倒とう
complete devotion; total commitment; unwavering fixation
辺へん鄙ぴ
remote; out-of-the-way; hard-to-reach
二に等とう辺へん三さん角かっ形けい
isosceles triangle
右う辺へん
right side (of an equation); RHS · right side (of a board)
斜しゃ辺へん
hypotenuse; oblique side
左さ辺へん
left side (of an equation); LHS · left side (of a game board)
下か辺へん
lower side; lower edge; lower border; lower hem
炉ろ辺へん
fireside; hearthside
てっぺんN1
top; summit; peak; apex · twelve o'clock; midnight · top of the head; crown; scalp
対たい辺へんN1
opposite side
一いっ辺ぺん
side of a geometric shape
三さん辺ぺん
three sides (length, width, height)
上じょう辺へん
upper side of a board
両りょう辺へん
both sides
中ちゅう辺へん
moderate; middle-of-the-road · inner edge (othello)
側そく辺へん
corner; edge; side
公こう辺へん
public affairs; public ceremonies
内ない辺へん
inside; interior

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