Meanings
Readings
Common Words
長い only
long (distance, length)
long (time); protracted; prolonged
eternity; perpetuity; permanence; immortality
many years; a long time
Adjectival nouns or quasi-adjectives (keiyodoshi); Nouns which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
eternity; permanence; perpetuity
Historical term
Eikyū era (1113.7.13-1118.4.3)
for a long time; at (great) length; lengthily; long-windedly; tediously
(extending) far; (stretching) out; (lying down) at full length
long; (for a) long time
lasting long; continuation; keeping at (something); sticking to (something)
Memory Mnemonics
Keywords
The core concepts or meanings associated with this specific kanji.
Constituents
The visual building blocks used to craft this character's story.
Mnemonic Stories
The soul is but a single drop poised above the endless water of time, surfing the cosmic waves for eternity.
Sisyphus’s next punishment is to separate one drop from the ocean (water) and hold it aloft for eternity, never letting it rejoin the whole.
Visually, picture an hourglass filled with water instead of sand. Use the drop at the top to imagine the water dripping down from above. The hourglass contains all the water in the universe, and it will take an eternity for it to run out.
The cycle of water: evaporating at the top as a drop, then raining back down, is a process that will repeat for all eternity.
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