Meanings
Numeric
1. five; 5
伍 is used in legal documents
Pitch accent
Used in vocabulary (140 in total)
Wu Hu (five tribes that migrated into China in 300-500 CE: Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Di, Qiang)
half; 50%; tie; 5 parts; 5%
fifth (interval)
five o'clock
(arch.) division of the night (from approx. 7pm to 5am) into five 2-hour periods; the fifth of these periods (approx. 3am to 5am)
five most important temples of a region
five minutes
the five virtues; tripod; three or four-legged kettle stand; family crest in the shape of such an object
five-storied; quintuplicate; fivefold
Boy's Day celebration (May 5)
The Five Classics (of Confucianism)
500; five hundred; many
five fruits (peach, Japanese plum, apricot, jujube, Japanese chestnut); five types of effect in cause-and-effect relationships; five effects of ignorance and formations on one's current life
five (long cylindrical things)
the whole body; the five styles of writing Chinese characters; the five parts of the body (head, two hands and two feet; or head, neck, chest, hands and feet)
fifty; 50
five colors (usu. red, blue, yellow, white and black); five colours; many kinds; varied; melon; gourd
15; fifteen
five punishments (of ancient China: tattooing, cutting off the nose, cutting off a leg, castration or confinement, death); five punishments (of the ritsuryo system: light caning, severe caning, imprisonment, exile, death)
diving beetle; Japanese predacious diving beetle (Cybister japonicus)
mixture of ingredients (originally five); mixture of minced vegetables, fish, and meat, mixed in a starch (rice, noodles); gomoku (game); five in a row
five-sided fortification
five colors (usu. red, blue, yellow, white and black); five colours; many kinds; varied; melon; gourd
twenty-five; 1am
five times (as much); quintuple; fivefold
5,000,000; five million; (arch.) many
to grumble about something (trivial)
Olympic rings; Olympics
full particulars; the whole story; from beginning to end
Five Dynasties (of China; 907-979)
godan (verb, verb conjugation); fifth rank (in martial arts, go, etc.)
five generations; fifth generation immigrant; gosei; the fifth (e.g. George V)
festival (shrine visit) by children aged 7, 5 and 3; lucky numbers 7, 5 and 3
totally at a loss; lose one's bearings; in a maze; in a fog; all at sea; up in the air
the five commissioners (administrative organ of feudal Japan established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi)
fifty-three stations on the Tōkaidō (Edo-Kyoto highway in Edo-period Japan)
the five festivals (January 7, March 3, May 5, July 7 and September 9)
five cardinal sins (killing one's father, killing one's mother, killing an arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, causing a schism within the sangha); crime of killing one's master, father, grandfather, mother, or grandmother
last of the traditional set of five noh plays
seasonable rains and winds; halcyon weather; halcyon times of peace
five pungent roots (in Buddhism or Taoism)
the fifth
the five senses
corporal
five and seven; 35th day after a person's death
the five elements (in Japanese philosophy: earth, water, fire, wind and void); five great wisdom kings
fifth court rank; black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax); night heron; five ranks; five stages
the five elements (in Chinese philosophy: wood, fire, earth, metal and water); the five phases; five practices of the Bodhisattvas; the five pillars of Islam
one fifth part
in groups of twos and threes; in small groups
five characters; five letters; five-syllable verse of a waka, haiku, renga, etc.; first five syllables of a waka, haiku, renga, etc.
five most important temples of a region
rank (of troops); line; formation; array; procession
fifth year of elementary school; fifth year elementary school student
fifth son
to be among the top five; to be one of the five best
five flavors (sweet, salty, spicy, sour, bitter); five palates; five tastes; five flavors (milk at various stages of making ghee: fresh milk, cream, curdled milk, butter, and ghee); (fig.) the five periods of the Buddha's teachings
quinquennial; recurring every five years
long nail; spike
pentatonic scale
the five festivals (January 7, March 3, May 5, July 7 and September 9)
fifth daughter
5,000 yen bill
Council of Five Elders (committee of daimyo formed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to rule Japan until his son Hideyori came of age)
the five sense organs
a wonder lasts but nine days; (lit.) gossip lasts just 75 days
a wonder lasts but nine days; (lit.) gossip lasts just 75 days
the five viscera (liver, lungs, heart, kidney and spleen)
instrumental quintet
five-seven-five syllable verse (haiku, senryu, etc.)
five-digit number; "ten thousands" column
the five continents; Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australia; Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America
pentagon
seven-and-five-syllable meter
to divide into five parts
the five regent houses; five families of the Fujiwara clan (Konoe, Kujo, Nijo, Ichijo, and Takatsukasa) entrusted as imperial regents and advisors starting in the Kamakura period
the five precepts (prohibitions against killing, theft, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication)
Japanese white pine (favored for gardens and bonsai); goyoumatsu
the Five Highways (radiating from Edo)
staff; stave
rank and file; the ranks
five races under one union (Han, Manchurians, Mongolians, Hui, Tibetans; founding principle of the Republic of China); harmony of the five races (Manchurians, Han, Mongolians, Koreans, Japanese; official policy of Manchukuo)
five ranks of nobility (in Japan; 1868-1946)
the five vegetables (garlic chive, Japanese leek, green onion, wasabi and mame); (meal of) five dishes
N battery; N cell
the five sciences of ancient India (grammar and composition, arts and mathematics, medicine, logic, and philosophy)
the Five Home Provinces (Yamato, Yamashiro, Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi)
small salary
Pentateuch
five ranks of nobility (in Japan; 1868-1946)
five fundamental texts of Ise Shinto
quintic equation
the five sins (murder, theft, adultery, falsehood, and alcohol)
the five passions (anger, joy, hatred, desire and grief)
Auriga (constellation); the Charioteer
five dhyani buddhas; five wisdom buddhas
pentagonal pyramid
five pungent roots (in Buddhism or Taoism)
May Fourth Movement (anti-imperialist student demonstration in Beijing on May 4, 1919)
Charter Oath (of the Meiji Emperor); Five-Point Imperial Covenant; Imperial Oath of Five Articles
last five matches of makushita division wrestlers
Shavuot; Feast of Weeks; (Jewish) Pentecost; Pentecost; Whitsunday
pentagonal prism
straight A's; all A's
five strings; five-stringed instrument
the five sentence structures (SV, SVC, SVO, SVOO, SVOC)
five cardinal sins (killing one's father, killing one's mother, killing an arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, causing a schism within the sangha)
the five oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic)
vocal quintet; five-part chorus
to double the ranks
25th of the month; 25 days
four days from now (five days in some places)
Wu Xing Fist; Five Form Fist (Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Crane, Leopard)
pentahedron
larger whales of family Delphinidae (esp. the pilot whale or blackfish)
five punishments (of the ritsuryo system: light caning, severe caning, imprisonment, exile, death); five punishments (of ancient China: tattooing, cutting off the nose, cutting off a leg, castration or confinement, death)
life is short; (lit.) life is just fifty years
five residences for court ladies (in the inner Heian Palace)
five approaches to meditation; five objects of meditation
miso from the Kamakura era
five gates of mindfulness: worship, praise, vows, observation, prayers for the dead
three public corporations (Japan National Railways, Japan Monopoly Corporation, and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) and five government enterprises (postal services, mintage, printing, management of state-owned forests/fields, and monopolization of alcohol)
three public corporations (Japan National Railways, Japan Monopoly Corporation, and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) and five government enterprises (postal services, mintage, printing, management of state-owned forests/fields, and monopolization of alcohol)
five implements placed in front of a Buddhist altar: two candlesticks, two vases (usu. containing flowers made of gilded copper) and one incense burner
5,000 yen bill
bi-quinary system
five cardinal sins (killing one's father, killing one's mother, killing an arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, causing a schism within the sangha)
the five night watches; fifth watch of the night (approx. 3am to 5am)
land-tax system during the Edo period under which the government took half of the year's crop and the farmers kept the other half
five lowly castes of the ritsuryo system
the five viscera (liver, lungs, heart, kidney and spleen)
Gojō Station (Kyoto)
Examples (54 in total)
Is it fifth period?
Do you have five dollars?
Five times five is twenty-five.