yellow

About this kanji

The kanji 「黄」 means yellow and is most commonly used as an adjective or in compounds. You can see it in words like 黄色 (きいろ), which simply means yellow, and 黄色い (きいろい), the descriptive form also meaning yellow. Additionally, there are interesting compounds like 黄金 (おうごん), meaning gold, and 硫黄 (いおう), which translates to sulfur. Another notable word is 黄昏 (たそがれ), meaning dusk, referring to the time of day when the sky takes on a yellowish hue. Note that while you’ll encounter this kanji often in vocabulary, it primarily represents color and related concepts.

Example sentences

• 黄昏に空が黄色く染まる。

  The sky turns yellow at dusk.

Meanings across languages

English

yellow

Tiếng Việt

vàng

日本語

黄

한국어

노란색

中文

黄色

id

kuning

th

สีเหลือง

es

amarillo

fr

jaune

de

gelb

pt

amarelo

Common compounds

• 黄金おうごんgold (Au), golden, prosperous
• 硫黄いおうsulfur (S), sulphur
• 黄昏たそがれdusk, twilight, twilight years
• 黄色きいろyellow, amber
• 黄色いきいろいyellow, high-pitched (voice), shrill
• 黄金時代おうごんじだいgolden age
• 卵黄らんおうegg yolk
• 緑黄色りょくおうしょくgreenish yellow

Words using this kanji

Related articles

• Color Kanji in Japanese: Red, Blue, White, Black & More

  The basic color kanji — 赤 青 白 黒 黄 — behave as both nouns and adjectives. Learn their readings and the adjective endings that trip learners up.