肉

Meaning

Meat, flesh · carne

Readings

• On (音読み): ニク
• Kun (訓読み): —

Example words

• 肉（にく）— meat
• 牛肉（ぎゅうにく）— beef
• 豚肉（ぶたにく）— pork

Structure

Radical 肉 (にく・にくづき · Flesh, meat) · 6 strokes · school grade 2

Watch out

Looks like 内 (inside) with an extra 人. As a radical it turns into 月 in body-part kanji: 腹, 腕, 胸, 脳 — flesh, not moon. Like Spanish carne, 肉 alone means the default meat, and that default is regional: 肉じゃが is beef in Kansai but pork in Kanto, and a Kansai pork bun is 豚まん, not 肉まん. Fish is never 肉: ask for 肉なし and you may still get fish stock.