Meanings
Numeric
1. five; 5
伍 is used in legal documents
Kanji used
five
Pitch accent
Top 1400
Used in vocabulary (149 in total)
15; fifteen
half; 50%; tie; 5 parts; 5%
500; five hundred; many
the fifth
five o'clock
the five senses
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)
five times (as much); quintuple; fivefold
fifth (interval)
Five Dynasties (of China; 907-979)
five and seven; 35th day after a person's death
five colors (usu. red, blue, yellow, white and black); five colours; many kinds; varied; melon; gourd
five colors (usu. red, blue, yellow, white and black); five colours; many kinds; varied; melon; gourd
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
godan (verb, verb conjugation); fifth rank (in martial arts, go, etc.)
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
5,000,000; five million; (arch.) many
to grumble about something (trivial)
five-sided fortification
five characters; five letters; five-syllable verse of a waka, haiku, renga, etc.; first five syllables of a waka, haiku, renga, 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
Olympic rings; Olympics
fifth son
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
five-storied; quintuplicate; fivefold
five most important temples of a region
five most important temples of a region
skewered sweet rice cakes served with soy sauce and miso
long nail; spike
to be among the top five; to be one of the five best
totally at a loss; lose one's bearings; in a maze; in a fog; all at sea; up in the air
fifth year of elementary school; fifth year elementary school student
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
the five festivals (January 7, March 3, May 5, July 7 and September 9)
fifth daughter
Council of Five Elders (committee of daimyo formed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to rule Japan until his son Hideyori came of age)
the five viscera (liver, lungs, heart, kidney and spleen)
five minutes
the five virtues; tripod; three or four-legged kettle stand; family crest in the shape of such an object
the five sense organs
instrumental quintet
to divide into five parts
a wonder lasts but nine days; (lit.) gossip lasts just 75 days
a wonder lasts but nine days; (lit.) gossip lasts just 75 days
five-seven-five syllable verse (haiku, senryu, etc.)
five-digit number; "ten thousands" column
quinquennial; recurring every five years
the five continents; Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australia; Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America
quinquennial; recurring every five years
staff; stave
(arch.) division of the night (from approx. 7pm to 5am) into five 2-hour periods; the fifth of these periods (approx. 3am to 5am)
seven-and-five-syllable meter
pentatonic scale
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)
fifty-three stations on the Tōkaidō (Edo-Kyoto highway in Edo-period Japan)
the five commissioners (administrative organ of feudal Japan established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi)
the Five Highways (radiating from Edo)
The Five Classics (of Confucianism)
Japanese white pine (favored for gardens and bonsai); goyoumatsu
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)
quinquennial; recurring every five years
five ranks of nobility (in Japan; 1868-1946)
the five vegetables (garlic chive, Japanese leek, green onion, wasabi and mame); (meal of) five dishes
in groups of twos and threes; in small groups
N battery; N cell
the five festivals (January 7, March 3, May 5, July 7 and September 9)
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)
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
five fundamental texts of Ise Shinto
Pentateuch
five ranks of nobility (in Japan; 1868-1946)
the five viscera (liver, lungs, heart, kidney and spleen)
the five passions (anger, joy, hatred, desire and grief)
the five sins (murder, theft, adultery, falsehood, and alcohol)
five dhyani buddhas; five wisdom buddhas
Auriga (constellation); the Charioteer
five pungent roots (in Buddhism or Taoism)
Charter Oath (of the Meiji Emperor); Five-Point Imperial Covenant; Imperial Oath of Five Articles
pentagonal pyramid
long nail; spike
five races under one union (Han, Manchurians, Mongolians, Hui, Tibetans; founding principle of the Republic of China)
last five matches of makushita division wrestlers
Wu Hu (five tribes that migrated into China in 300-500 CE: Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Di, Qiang)
last of the traditional set of five noh plays
straight A's; all A's
Shavuot; Feast of Weeks; (Jewish) Pentecost; Pentecost; Whitsunday
seasonable rains and winds; halcyon weather; halcyon times of peace
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)
five strings; five-stringed instrument
skewered sweet rice cakes served with soy sauce and miso
totally at a loss; lose one's bearings; in a maze; in a fog; all at sea; up in the air
Boy's Day celebration (May 5)
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 fruits (peach, Japanese plum, apricot, jujube, Japanese chestnut)
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)
May Fourth Movement (anti-imperialist student demonstration in Beijing on May 4, 1919)
five pungent roots (in Buddhism or Taoism)
life is short; (lit.) life is just fifty years
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)
four days from now (five days in some places)
the five oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic)
25th of the month; 25 days
five implements placed in front of a Buddhist altar: two candlesticks, two vases (usu. containing flowers made of gilded copper) and one incense burner
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)
miso from the Kamakura era
vocal quintet; five-part chorus
five gates of mindfulness: worship, praise, vows, observation, prayers for the dead
Wu Xing Fist; Five Form Fist (Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Crane, Leopard)
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)
five residences for court ladies (in the inner Heian Palace)
five approaches to meditation; five objects of meditation
larger whales of family Delphinidae (esp. the pilot whale or blackfish)
five approaches to meditation; five objects of meditation
fiveleaf aralia (Acanthopanax sieboldianus)
mudskipper (Boleophthalmus pectinirostris); goggle-eyed goby
mudskipper (Boleophthalmus pectinirostris); goggle-eyed goby
flathead silverside (Hypoatherina valenciennei)
the five viscera (liver, lungs, heart, kidney and spleen)
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
the five night watches; fifth watch of the night (approx. 3am to 5am)
five lowly castes of the ritsuryo system
Gojō Station (Kyoto)
Examples (54 in total)
Is it fifth period?
Do you have five dollars?
Five times five is twenty-five.