kana

K5A1N1A1
/ˈkɑːnə/[ˈkʰɑːnə]

noun

The hiragana and katakana syllabaries. These are made up of characters that represent individual syllables, which are used to write Japanese words and particles. Kana are derived from kanji.

OriginJapanese 香菜 →
Less commonScrabble 8
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Meanings

kana1

nounkana (plural kana or kanas)

plural kanas

  1. The hiragana and katakana syllabaries. These are made up of characters that represent individual syllables, which are used to write Japanese words and particles. Kana are derived from kanji.
  2. A hiragana or katakana character.

kana2

verbkana (invariable)
  1. SingaporeSinglishalternativeinvariableAlternative form of kena.

Kana3

proper noun
  1. A female given name from Japanese.

Kana4

proper nounKana (plural Kanas)

plural Kanas

  1. A surname.

Kana5

proper noun
  1. A gewog of Dagana District, Bhutan.

Origin

kana · noun

Borrowed from Japanese 仮名(かな) (kana, “phonetic character”, literally “borrowed character”, from the way that kana were originally Chinese characters "borrowed" for their phonetic values).

Full word history & related roots →

Kana · proper noun

  1. Japanese香菜
  2. EnglishKana

Borrowed from Japanese 香菜 (Kana).

More words from Japanese

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Kana · proper noun

  1. Tamilகனா
  2. CzechKáňa
  3. EnglishKana

Two main origins: * Borrowed from Czech Káňa, a variant of Kan. * Borrowed from Tamil கனா (kaṉā); this surname is predominantly found in Tamil Nadu.

More words from Czech, Tamil

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Kana · proper noun

  1. dzབཀར་ན་
  2. EnglishKana

Borrowed from Dzongkha བཀར་ན་ (bkar na).

More words from dz

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Translations

Arabic كَانَا
  • كَانَا (kānā)Japanese syllabaries
Bulgarian ка́на
  • ка́на (kána)Japanese syllabaries
Chinese Mandarin 假名
  • 假名 (jiǎmíng)Japanese syllabaries
Czech kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries
Finnish kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries
French kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries
German Kana
  • KanaJapanese syllabaries
Greek κάνα
  • κάνα (kána)Japanese syllabaries
Hebrew קאנה
  • קאנה (kána)Japanese syllabaries
Hindi काना
  • काना (kānā)Japanese syllabaries
Japanese 仮名
  • 仮名 (kana)Japanese syllabaries
Korean 가나
  • 가나 (gana)Japanese syllabaries
Malay kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries
Persian کانا
  • کانا (kânâ)Japanese syllabaries
Polish kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries
Portuguese kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries
Russian ка́на
  • ка́на (kána)Japanese syllabaries
Spanish kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries
Thai คานะ
  • คานะ (kaa-ná)Japanese syllabaries
Ukrainian ка́на
  • ка́на (kána)Japanese syllabaries
Urdu کانا
  • کانا (kānā)Japanese syllabaries
Vietnamese kana
  • kanaJapanese syllabaries

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with kana

MontanaBotswanaghanaanadanaGuyananirvanaAmericanamanananaTijuanaiguanacabanapranaTiranaarcanaohanayanaAfricanabrewerianaDisneyanakatakanalianahiragana
All rhymes →

Anagrams

nakaAkanknaa
Cite this entry
APA

kana. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kana

MLA

“kana.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kana. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kana,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kana.

Source: kana on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.