KANJI: KON KIN ima (now)

ASCII Art Representation:

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Character Etymology:

Somewhat obscure and contraversial. The prominent theory suggests that the top-part of this character is a cover and the bottom part represents the idea of "to put in a corner and hide." Thus to cover/hide.

Then, the character was borrowed to express sudden, which came to mean imminent and finally now.

A Listing of All On-Yomi and Kun-Yomi Readings:

on-yomi: KON KIN
kun-yomi: ima

Nanori Readings:

Nanori: na

English Definitions:

1. KIN, KON: now, the present; the coming; this.
2. ima: now, present time; just now, soon, immediately; (one) more.
3. ima(mekashii): fashionable.
4. ima(mekasu): modernize.
5. ima(motte): until now.
6. ima-: modern.

Character Index Numbers:

New Nelson: 112
Henshall: 125

Unicode Encoded Version:

今

Unicode Encoded Compound Examples:

今週 (konshuu): this week.
今年 (kotoshi): this year.
今朝 (kesa): this morning.

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