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KanjiGrade 5 › 基
Kyōiku Kanji

基 — base / foundation

Grade 5き, もと

基 (readings: き, もと; Japanese kanji) means “base / foundation”. It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 基本 (basics).

What does 基 mean?

Kanji
Meaningbase / foundation
Readingsき, もと
GradeGrade 5 (Hard)
CurriculumKyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school

How to read 基

基 is read or もと depending on the word.

Example words with 基

Example基本 (basics)
Practice writing 基 — free
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Updated: 2026-07-14