Meaning
飛 means to fly, soar, or leap — any movement that breaks free of the ground. A bird in flight, a plane crossing the sky, a person jumping between rooftops: all fall under this character. The meaning reaches into metaphor too. A sudden jump in skill, an unexpected price spike, a breakthrough in circumstance — 飛 covers these leaps just as well as literal ones.
飛 is a pictograph (象形文字, shōkeimoji). Ancient oracle bone and bronze inscriptions showed a crane with wings fully extended, body climbing upward. The modern form has been simplified over centuries, but the two strokes flanking the central axis still suggest outstretched wings. It takes some imagination now — the image of something airborne is still there if you look.
Nine strokes. 飛 is classified under radical 183 — it serves as its own radical, which is relatively rare. Japanese schoolchildren meet it in Grade 4, around age 9 or 10. At N3, it turns up across everyday conversation, aviation vocabulary, and figurative expressions alike.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
飛 has one on'yomi: ヒ (HI), from Middle Chinese. It appears mainly in Sino-Japanese compounds (熟語, jukugo) — especially in aviation, formal writing, and words about swift or dramatic movement.
- 飛行 (hikō) — flight, aviation; the act of flying through the air
- 飛行機 (hikōki) — airplane; literally "flying machine"
- 飛躍 (hiyaku) — leap; dramatic advance or progress
- 飛来 (hirai) — arrival by air; flying in from a distance
- 飛距離 (hikyori) — flight distance; how far something travels through the air
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
Two kun'yomi. The primary is と.ぶ (tobu) — the everyday verb for flying or jumping. と.ばす (tobasu) is the causative form: to send something flying, skip over something, or (in casual speech) to drive very fast. Both appear in a wide range of compound verbs.
- 飛ぶ (tobu) — to fly, to jump, to leap
- 飛ばす (tobasu) — to send flying, to skip; also used for driving fast
- 飛び上がる (tobiagaru) — to jump up, to fly upward
- 飛び込む (tobikomu) — to jump into, to dive in; literally and figuratively
- 飛び出す (tobidasu) — to burst out, to dash out suddenly
Common Words & Compounds
飛 turns up across everyday speech and specialized fields alike. Here are the most useful compounds, grouped by theme.
Aviation & Travel
- 飛行機 (hikōki) — airplane; the most common word for "plane" in Japanese
- 飛行場 (hikōjō) — airfield; a place where aircraft take off and land
- 飛行士 (hikōshi) — aviator, pilot; a person who flies aircraft
- 飛行船 (hikōsen) — airship, blimp; a lighter-than-air aircraft
Motion & Action
- 飛び越える (tobikoeru) — to jump over, to leap across; clearing an obstacle
- 飛び回る (tobimawaru) — to fly around, to dart about; moving energetically in all directions
- 飛び降りる (tobioriru) — to jump down, to leap off
- 飛び乗る (tobinoru) — to jump onto, to leap aboard; boarding quickly
Figurative & Abstract
- 飛躍 (hiyaku) — dramatic advance; a sudden jump in ability, quality, or circumstance
- 飛び抜ける (tobinukeru) — to stand out, to excel; to "fly out" above the rest
- 飛び切り (tobikiri) — exceptional, extraordinary; the very best
Example Sentences
鳥が空を飛んでいる。
Tori ga sora wo tonde iru.
A bird is flying in the sky.
明日、飛行機で東京へ行きます。
Ashita, hikōki de Tōkyō e ikimasu.
Tomorrow I'm going to Tokyo by plane.
子供たちが池に飛び込んだ。
Kodomotachi ga ike ni tobikonda.
The children jumped into the pond.
彼は急に部屋から飛び出した。
Kare wa kyū ni heya kara tobidashita.
He burst out of the room without warning.
その選手は高く飛び上がってボールをキャッチした。
Sono senshu wa takaku tobiagatte bōru wo kyatchi shita.
The player leaped high and caught the ball.
飛行士になるのは私の夢だった。
Hikōshi ni naru no wa watashi no yume datta.
Becoming a pilot was my dream.
彼女の成績はこの一年で飛躍的に伸びた。
Kanojo no seiseki wa kono ichinen de hiyakuteki ni nobita.
Her grades improved dramatically over the past year.
風が強くて、帽子が飛んでいった。
Kaze ga tsuyokute, bōshi ga tonde itta.
The wind was so strong my hat blew away.
バッタは草の上を飛び回っていた。
Batta wa kusa no ue wo tobimawatte ita.
A grasshopper was hopping around in the grass.
彼は飛び切りの笑顔で私を迎えてくれた。
Kare wa tobikiri no egao de watashi wo mukaete kureta.
He greeted me with a brilliant smile.
Memory Tip
Picture 飛 as a bird mid-flight — two wings spread from a central body pushing skyward. That's exactly what the ancient form showed: a crane launching into the air. The shape still carries that energy.
For the on'yomi ヒ (hi), imagine a pilot shouting "Hi!" as the plane clears the runway. For とぶ (tobu), try using it in the wild: say 鳥が飛んでいる (tori ga tonde iru) the next time you see a bird outside. Vocabulary anchored to a real moment sticks far better than any trick.