beans, pea, midget

About this kanji

The kanji 豆, pronounced as "mame" in kun'yomi and "tou" or "zu" in on'yomi, primarily means "beans" or "pea." It is commonly used as a noun. You will often encounter this kanji in compounds like 小豆 (azuki), which refers to adzuki beans, a popular ingredient in Japanese sweets. 大豆 (daizu) means soya beans, essential for making tofu (豆腐, toufu) and soy milk (豆乳, tounyuu). A noteworthy point is that 豆 can also refer to something small or minor, relating to its usage in describing smaller beans or midgets. This kanji is quite essential in Japanese cooking and culture!

Example sentences

• この豆は栄養価が高い。

  These beans are highly nutritious.

Meanings across languages

English

beans, pea, midget

Tiếng Việt

đậu, đậu hà lan, người lùn

日本語

豆, エンドウ, 小人

한국어

콩, 완두콩, 왜소인

中文

豆子, 豌豆, 矮人

id

kacang

th

ถั่ว

es

frijoles

fr

haricots

de

Bohnen

pt

feijões

Common compounds

• 小豆あずきadzuki bean (Vigna angularis)
• 大豆だいずsoya bean (Glycine max), soybean, soy
• 豆腐とうふtofu, bean curd, beancurd
• 納豆なっとうnatto (fermented soybeans)
• 豆乳とうにゅうsoy milk
• 豆知識まめちしきtrivia, snippet of knowledge
• 枝豆えだまめedamame (green soybeans)
• 豆類まめるいpulse (edible seeds of various leguminous crops), plant yielding pulse

Words using this kanji