海

海 · hǎi

sea, ocean; maritime

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

sea, ocean; maritime

Mandarin
hǎi
Cantonese
hoi2

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

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 海 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

うみ

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 うみ

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

해

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
해
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E) · Personal-name Hanja (N)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

해:0EN

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

hải

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

hải

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+6D77
Radical
水 · 85
Strokes
10 · Unihan
Residual
7

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

Stroke order

10 strokes
海
Strokes
10
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

10 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

⿰氵每(GHTKPV)
⿰氵毎(J)
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 海

Character connections

1 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

History & distinctions

Related forms

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

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
xojX · 呼改 反切 · #1445

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

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 10078 · xojX = 蟹開一上咍曉

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
hǎi
kCantonese
hoi2
kDefinition
sea, ocean; maritime
kTotalStrokes
10
kRSUnicode
85.7
kGradeLevel
2
kTGH
2013:2074

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
hǎi 31627.010
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 海 ↗

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

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
710dictionary records using 海1forms using this shape0attributed sound links
⿰ Left / right

Shape description
氵 beside 每 · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam
Source notation ^⿰氵每$(GHTKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 710 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿰氵每$(GHTKPV)

^⿰氵毎$(J)

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