What does the kanji 長 mean?

The kanji 長 (nagai) means "long, leader, superior, senior". It is a JLPT N5 character.

What kanji is "nagai"?

"nagai" is written with the kanji 長, meaning "long, leader, superior, senior". Its readings are onyomi (Chinese-derived) ちょう (chō), kunyomi (native Japanese) ながい (nagai), おさ (osa). It is a JLPT N5 character.

How do you write the kanji 長?

Write 長 ("long") by following the correct stroke order. Use the interactive, step-by-step stroke order animation on this page to practise each stroke in sequence and build muscle memory.

What are the readings of 長?

長 has these readings: onyomi (Chinese-derived) ちょう (chō), kunyomi (native Japanese) ながい (nagai), おさ (osa).

長“long” Kanjinagai / chō

JLPT N5

How to write 長

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Meaning and readings

Meaning

long, leader, superior, senior

Onyomi (音読み)

ちょう chō

Chinese reading

Kunyomi (訓読み)

なが（い） naga(i)
おさ osa

Japanese reading

Practice 長 on paper — a printable tracing grid with stroke order

Or get all 82 N5 sheets as one free PDF (downloads to your device)

Example sentences using 長

Human-reviewed sentence pairs from the Tatoeba corpus, with readings shown above the kanji.

日ひがだんだん長ながくなってきています。
The days are getting longer and longer.
長く (ながく)
JP#122958bysmall_snowEN#40296byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
校長こうちょうが先生せんせいの後うしろから入はいってきた。
The principal came in after the teacher.
校長 (こうちょう)
JP#173570byKK_kaku_EN#240900byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
長生ながいきしたいんだったら、タバコをやめなよ。
Give up smoking if you want to live long.
長生き (ながいき)
JP#9207939bybunbukuEN#71349byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project