A quick look at the symbols used in the Meikyo dictionary
Symbols and dictionary shorthand can often be quite confusing. It doesn’t help that there isn’t one standard being used across all dictionaries. I might in a future endeavor type out all symbols and shorthand for every dictionary discussed in this topic, but as it’s quite a big job I’ve decided on just doing this for the Meikyo dictionary first. I must admit that there are quite a few I never really pay attention to (such as those concerning old conjugation patterns for example), so if there are any corrections, addendums, … anyone would like to make, please feel free to share!
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ▼ | Kanji outside of the Jōyō - Kanji |
| ▽ | Phonetic reading outside of the Jōyō - Kanji |
| 《 》 | Words in the Jōyō - Kanji |
| 〈 〉 | Reading of a Kanji compound |
| ［ ］ | Indicates part-of-speech |
| （ ） | Indicates constituents of compound word |
| 名 | Noun |
| 代 | Pronoun |
| 自 | Intransitive verb |
| 他 | Transitive verb |
| 動 | Verb |
| 補動 | Auxiliary Verb |
| 五 | Godan conjugation |
| 四 | Yodan conjugation (classical Japanese) |
| 上一 | Conjugation (inflection, declension) of ichidan verbs ending in "iru" |
| 上二 | Conjugation (inflection, declension) of nidan verbs (resulting in a stem of either “i” or “u” for every conjugation) (literary language) |
| 下一 | Conjugation (inflection, declension) of ichidan verbs ending in "eru" |
| 下二 | Conjugation (inflection, declension) of nidan verbs (resulting in a stem of either “e” or “u” for every conjugation) (literary language) |
| カ変 | Irregular conjugation of the verb "kuru" |
| サ変 | Irregular conjugation of s-stem verbs; conjugation of the verb "suru" |
| ナ変 | Irregular conjugation of verbs ending in “nu” (in written Japanese) |
| ラ変 | Irregular conjugation of a limited number of verbs ending in “ru” (in written Japanese) |
| 特活 | Special conjugation |
| 形 | Adjective |
| 補形 | Auxiliary adjective |
| ク | Classical form of i-adjective inflection (attributive form ends in “ki” and predicative in “shi”) |
| シク | Classical form of i-adjective inflection (attributive form ends in “shiki” and predicative in “shi”) |
| 形動 | Adjectival noun |
| トタル | トタルconjugation |
| ナリ | Classical form of na-adjective inflection formed by contraction of the particle “ni” with the classical verb “ari” (“aru”) |
| 連体 | Pre-noun adjectival; Adnominal adjective |
| 副 | Adverb |
| ト | Ending with “to” |
| ニ | Ending with “ni” |
| 接 | Conjunction |
| 感 | Interjection |
| 助動 | Bound auxiliary |
| 五型 | Godan-style conjugation |
| 四型 | Yodan-style conjugation |
| 下一型 | Conjugation (inflection, declension) of ichidan verbs ending in “eru” |
| 下二型 | Classical Japanese Conjugation on which I didn’t find a lot at first glance |
| ナ変型 | Classical Japanese Conjugation on which I didn’t find a lot at first glance |
| ラ変型 | Classical Japanese Conjugation on which I didn’t find a lot at first glance |
| 形型 | I-adjective style conjugation |
| 形動型 | Adjectival noun style conjugation |
| 特活型 | Special conjugation |
| 格助 | Case marking particle |
| 接助 | Conjunction particle |
| 副助 | Adverbial particle |
| 終助 | Sentence-ending particle |
| 接尾 | Prefix |
| 造 | Constituents of compound word |
| 連語 | Compound word; phrase; collocation |
 |
Major category |
| ❶❷❸ | Subcategory |
 |
Classification explanation in the commentary |
| ＡＢ | Separating words with many meanings or words with long explanations by their rough meanings |
| 〔古風〕 | Archaic word |
| 〔俗〕 | Colloquial; Slang; Vulgar word |
| 〔新〕 | New word (or meaning) |
 |
If there is only one semantic classification, a commentary on the item. Also, commentary on a certain meaning of items with multiple semantic classifications |
 |
Commentary on the entire item (or multiple meanings) for items with multiple semantic classifications |
| 書き方 | How to write |
| 書き分け | Distinguishing words by their writing |
| 使い方 | How to use |
| 語源 | Etymology |
| 注意 | Caution |
| 読み分け | Distinguishing words by their reading |
| 数 | Manner of counting |
| 文 | Sentence form |
| 可能 | Potential verb (as in describing potentiality) |
| 派生 | Derived forms with 「げ」 「さ」 「み」 「がる」 |
 |
Transformation into a noun |
 |
Transformation into a verb |
| 旧 | Old Kanji form as shown in the Jōyō - Kanji |
| 異形 | Variant verbs |
 |
Dignity column |
 |
synonym |
 |
“See also” |
| ⦿ | Subheading |
| 早引き | Quick lookup for words with many homophones |
| 逆引き | Headings that allow for reverse indexing from the back or middle of a word |