most, extreme, best
On'yomi (音読み)
- サイ
- シュ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- もっとも
About this kanji
The kanji 最 (sai) means "most" or "extreme" and is often used to indicate something that is the best or highest degree of a quality. It functions primarily as a prefix in nouns but can also serve as an adverb when combined with its kun'yomi form もっとも (mottomo), meaning "the most." Common compounds include 最近 (さいきん, saikin), which means "recently," and 最初 (さいしょ, saisho), meaning "first." Another example is 最大 (さいだい, saidai), which stands for "largest." A useful note is that 最 is often used to express the top level of something, such as the highest or lowest, adding emphasis to your conversation.
Built from
Example sentences
これは私の最初の作品です。
This is my first work.
Meanings across languages
- English
- most, extreme, best
- Tiếng Việt
- nhất, cực nhất, tốt nhất
- 日本語
- 一番, 極めて, 最高
- 한국어
- 최고, 극한, 최상의
- 中文
- 最多, 极致, 最佳
- id
- paling, ekstrem, terbaik
- th
- สุด, สุดยอด, ดีสุด
- es
- más, extremo, mejor
- fr
- plus, extrême, meilleur
- de
- meiste, extrem, beste
- pt
- mais, extremo, melhor
Common compounds
- 最近さいきんrecently, nowadays
- 最初さいしょfirst, beginning
- 最大さいだいlargest, biggest, maximum
- 最低さいていlowest, minimum, least
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