界

界 · jiè

boundary, limit; domain; society; the world

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

boundary, limit; domain; society; the world

Mandarin
jiè
Cantonese
gaai3

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 界 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

カイ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

さかい

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

カイ さかい

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

계

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
계
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

계:0E

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

giới

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

giới

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+754C
Radical
田 · 102
Strokes
9 · Unihan
Residual
4

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

9 strokes
界
Strokes
9
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

9 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿱田介(GHTJKPV)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 界

Character connections

No reverse component match in this collection.

Component roles · attributed

Source analyses, kept separate from modern IDS. CJKVI labels are not individually verified historical conclusions. Evidence & limits ↗

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
keajH · 古拜 反切 · #2473

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 14137 · keajH = 蟹開二去皆見

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
jiè
kCantonese
gaai3
kDefinition
boundary, limit; domain; society; the world
kTotalStrokes
9
kRSUnicode
102.4
kGradeLevel
3
kTGH
2013:1496

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
jiè 42534.020
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 界 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
199dictionary records using 界0forms using this shape1attributed sound links
⿱ Above / below

Shape description
田 above 介 · the same shape in all seven regional standards (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam)
Source notation ^⿱田介$(GHTJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 199 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿱田介$(GHTJKPV)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.