Meaning
帽 means hat, cap, or headgear — anything worn on top of the head. In modern Japanese it almost never stands alone. It combines with other characters to form compound nouns: the 帽子 (bōshi) you put on before leaving the house, the 制帽 (seibō) sewn into a school uniform, the 鉄帽 (tetsubō) strapped on at a construction site.
The character is built from two components. 冒 (ボウ), on the upper-left, means "to cover" or "to brave." Inside it sits 冃 — a cloth draped over 目 (eye/head) — lending both the phonetic reading bō and the visual idea of something pulled down over the face. The lower-right component is 巾 (きん), the radical for cloth or fabric.
Put together: a piece of fabric (巾) that covers the head (冒). Every element is doing meaningful work — semantic or phonetic. With 12 strokes, it sits in Japan's Jōyō kanji list at secondary-school level, a reflection of how often it turns up in everyday written Japanese.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
ボウ (bō) is the only reading you need. Because 帽 has no kun'yomi, every word containing this kanji uses ボウ.
- 帽子 (bōshi) — hat, cap (the general word for any hat)
- 脱帽 (datsubō) — removing one's hat; (figuratively) deep admiration
- 制帽 (seibō) — uniform cap (part of a school or company uniform)
- 野球帽 (yakyūbō) — baseball cap
- 礼帽 (reibō) — formal or ceremonial hat
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
帽 has no standard kun'yomi. It entered Japanese as a Sino-Japanese borrowing rather than being matched to an existing native word, so ボウ covers all practical use. This is not unusual for characters absorbed through Chinese literary texts.
Common Words & Compounds
帽 lives almost entirely inside compound words. The examples below are grouped by context.
Everyday Headwear
- 帽子 (bōshi) — hat, cap (the catch-all term)
- 野球帽 (yakyūbō) — baseball cap
- 麦藁帽子 (mugiwara bōshi) — straw hat
- 山高帽 (yamatakabō) — top hat, bowler hat
- ニット帽 (nittobō) — knit cap, beanie
Formal & Official Headwear
- 制帽 (seibō) — uniform cap
- 礼帽 (reibō) — ceremonial hat
- 鉄帽 (tetsubō) — steel helmet, hard hat
Actions & Figurative Use
- 脱帽 (datsubō) — taking off one's hat; deep admiration (「脱帽します」= "I take my hat off to you")
- 着帽 (chakubō) — putting on or wearing a hat
- 帽体 (bōtai) — the structural shell of a helmet
Example Sentences
彼女は赤い帽子をかぶっている。
Kanojo wa akai bōshi wo kabutte iru.
She is wearing a red hat.
外に出るときは帽子をかぶりなさい。
Soto ni deru toki wa bōshi wo kaburi nasai.
Put on your hat when you go outside.
野球帽は日差しをさえぎるのに役立つ。
Yakyūbō wa hizashi wo saegiru no ni yakudatsu.
A baseball cap is useful for blocking out the sun.
その選手の活躍には脱帽するしかない。
Sono senshu no katsuyaku ni wa datsubō suru shika nai.
I can only take my hat off to that athlete's performance.
工事現場では鉄帽の着用が義務付けられている。
Kōji genba de wa tetsubō no chakuyō ga gimudzukerarete iru.
Wearing a hard hat is mandatory at construction sites.
学校の制帽を忘れてしまった。
Gakkō no seibō wo wasurete shimatta.
I forgot my school uniform cap.
この麦藁帽子は夏の海辺によく合う。
Kono mugiwara bōshi wa natsu no umibe ni yoku au.
This straw hat is perfect for the summer beach.
子供たちは帽子をかぶって運動会に参加した。
Kodomotachi wa bōshi wo kabutte undōkai ni sanka shita.
The children wore their hats to the school sports day.
彼は帽子を目深にかぶり、顔を隠していた。
Kare wa bōshi wo mabuka ni kaburi, kao wo kakushite ita.
He pulled his hat low over his face, hiding it from view.
Memory Tip
Picture 冒: 冃 (a hat-brim shape) sitting right over 目 (eye). A hat has slipped so far down that the wearer must brave (冒) walking forward half-blind. Now add 巾 (cloth) to the right — the full character is a fabric covering pulled over the eyes and head. Every time you see 帽, picture that floppy cloth hat slipping down over the face.