# 幼 — very young; childhood

幼 means “very young; childhood”. It is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 5 strokes. On'yomi: ヨウ (you). Kun'yomi: おさな(い) (osanai). You'll see it in words such as 幼なじみ (osananajimi, “childhood friend; friend from infancy”).

- Meaning: very young; childhood
- On'yomi: ヨウ (you)
- Kun'yomi: おさな(い) (osanai)
- Strokes: 5
- Level: JLPT N2 · set Family

## How to remember 幼

Parts: 幺 thread · 力 power

## Words with 幼

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 幼なじみ | おさななじみ (osananajimi) | childhood friend; friend from infancy |
| 幼い | おさない (osanai) | very young; little |

## More in the “Family” set

[婦](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/married-woman/) · [児](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/toddler/) · [妻](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/wife/) · [婚](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/marriage/) · [娘](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/daughter/) · [祖](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/ancestor/) · [幼](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/very-young/) · [孫](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/grandchild/) · [姓](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/surname/)

---

From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/very-young/. Last updated 2026-11-01.
