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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "century" in Japanese?
世紀
seiki
In Japanese, "century" is 世紀 (seiki).
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Pronunciation
Seiki has a long ei sound at the front, sei, that glides like 'say', followed by a short crisp ki.
Writing and usage
世紀 is written using kanji. It's a noun, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.
Example sentence
城は100年以上の歴史があります。
shiro ha 100 nen'ijou no rekishi gaarimasu.
The castle is over a century old.
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How to remember 世紀
Seiki starts with 'say', as if a hundred years is long enough for people to say many, many things about it.
Related words
- decade 10年 10 nen
- era 時代 jidai
- millennium ミレニアム mireniamu
- weekday 平日 heijitsu
- weekend 週末 shuumatsu
- holiday 休暇 kyuuka
- deadline 締め切り shimekiri
- schedule スケジュール sukejuuru
- appointment 予約 yoyaku
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 世紀
How do you pronounce 世紀?
Seiki has a long ei sound at the front, sei, that glides like 'say', followed by a short crisp ki.
Is 世紀 formal or casual?
世紀 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.
How is 世紀 written in Japanese?
世紀 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as seiki.
Where can I practice Japanese words for free?
You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"Century" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
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