由 — kanji meaning “wherefore”
由
wherefore, a reason
- Meanings
- wherefore, a reason
- On'yomi
- ユ (yu)、ユウ (yuu)、ユイ (yui)
- Kun'yomi
- よし、よ.る
- Strokes
- 5
- School grade
- 3
- JLPT (old scale)
- Level 2
- Newspaper frequency
- #325 of 2,500
- Classical radical
- 102
- Chinese reading
- yóu — Chinese character page
Words with 由
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 理由 | りゆう riyuu | reason; grounds; pretext |
| 自由 | じゆう jiyuu | freedom; liberty |
| 経由 | けいゆ keiyu | going through; going via; going by way of |
| 由来 | ゆらい yurai | origin; source; history |
| 不自由 | ふじゆう fujiyuu | discomfort; inconvenience |
| 由緒 | ゆいしょ yuisho | history; pedigree; lineage |
| 事由 | じゆう jiyuu | reason; cause; whys and wherefores |
| 自由自在 | じゆうじざい jiyuujizai | free; unrestricted; (with) complete mastery |
| 自由形 | じゆうがた jiyuugata | freestyle (e.g. swimming event) |
| 自由党 | じゆうとう jiyuutou | Liberal Party |
| 由縁 | ゆえん yuen | acquaintance; relation; affinity |
| 由々しき | ゆゆしき yuyushiki | grave; serious; alarming |
Data: KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.