buy
On'yomi (音読み)
- バイ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- か.う
About this kanji
The kanji 買 means "to buy" and is commonly used as a verb. The on'yomi reading is バイ, while the kun'yomi is か.う. You'll often see it in compounds like 買収 (ばいしゅう), which means "acquisition," particularly in business contexts. Another compound is 売買 (ばいばい), meaning "trade," which refers to buying and selling. When you go shopping, you use the term 買い物 (かいもの), which literally translates to "buying things." Just remember that 買 specifically refers to the act of buying, so if you're discussing shopping or procurement, these compounds will be helpful in conversation.
Example sentences
来週、新しい車を買うつもりだ。
I plan to buy a new car next week.
Meanings across languages
- English
- buy
- Tiếng Việt
- mua
- 日本語
- 買う
- 한국어
- 사다
- 中文
- 买
- id
- membeli
- th
- ซื้อ
- es
- comprar
- fr
- acheter
- de
- kaufen
- pt
- comprar
Common compounds
- 買収ばいしゅうacquisition (esp. corporate), buy-out, takeover
- 売買ばいばいtrade, buying and selling, trafficking (e.g. of humans, arms, drugs)
- 買いかいbuying, shopping, buyer
- 買い物かいものshopping, purchased goods
- 購買こうばいprocurement, purchase, buying
- 仲買なかがいbrokerage, broker
- 買取かいとりpurchase, buying, buying out
- 買うかうto buy, to purchase, to value (highly)
Want to actually learn this kanji?
The dictionary is one view. The Kanji 360 app wraps every character with mnemonic images, audio readings, stroke-order animation, story context, and SRS scheduling — free to start on iPhone, iPad, and Android.