Standard Lemma guide

hanja

name · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈhɑn.d͡ʒə/
  • US: /ˈhɑn.d͡ʒɑ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

name

Meaning 1

Alternative letter-case form of hanja.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The Han character script used to write Korean, particularly in classical literature.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any individual Han character as used in the Korean language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Korean 한자(漢字) (hanja), from Middle Chinese 漢字 (MC xanH dziH, “Chinese character”, literally “Han Chinese + character”). Compare Cantonese 漢字 /汉字 (hon3 zi6), Japanese 漢字 (kanji), Mandarin 漢字 /汉字 (hànzì), Vietnamese Hán tự. Doublet of kanji and Hanzi.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 漢字 /汉字 (hànzì) — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Finnish: hanja — Han character script used to write Korean
  • German: Hanja — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Hungarian: handzsa — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Korean: 한자 — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Polish: hanja — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Romanian: hanja — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Russian: ханча́ (xančá) — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Turkish: hanca — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Turkish: hanja — Han character script used to write Korean
  • Urdu: ہانجا (hānjā) — Han character script used to write Korean