by means of, because of

About this kanji

The kanji "以" generally means "by means of" or "because of." It is primarily used in noun compounds rather than as a verb. For instance, "以下" (いか) means "below," while "以上" (いじょう) means "above." Another important compound is "以外" (いがい), which translates to "except," and "以前" (いぜん) means "before." This kanji highlights relationships between concepts, often indicating a limit or a comparison. Note that "以" is typically part of expressions rather than used in everyday conversation by itself.

Built from

Example sentences

• これ以外は全部です。

  This is everything except for that.

Meanings across languages

English

by means of, because of

Tiếng Việt

bằng cách, do

日本語

によって, から

한국어

에 의해, 때문에

中文

通过, 因为

id

dengan cara, karena

th

โดย means, เนื่องจาก

es

mediante, debido a

fr

par, à cause de

de

durch, wegen

pt

por meio de, por causa de

Common compounds

• 以下いかbelow, under
• 以上いじょうabove, more than
• 以外いがいexcept, other than
• 以前いぜんbefore, ago