# 湖 — lake

湖 means “lake”. It is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 12 strokes. On'yomi: コ (ko). Kun'yomi: みずうみ (mizuumi). You'll see it in words such as 湖 (mizuumi, “lake”).

- Meaning: lake
- On'yomi: コ (ko)
- Kun'yomi: みずうみ (mizuumi)
- Strokes: 12
- Level: JLPT N3 · set Water & the sea

## How to remember 湖

Old (古) water (氵) under the moon (月): a lake.

Sounds like 古: both read コ.

Parts: 氵 water · 古 old · 月 moon; flesh

## Words with 湖

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 湖 | みずうみ (mizuumi) | lake |

## Don't confuse it with

[潮](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/tide/) · [嘲](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/ridicule/) · [活](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/activity/)

## More in the “Water & the sea” set

[流](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/flow/) · [湾](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/bay/) · [岸](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/shore/) · [波](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/wave/) · [沖](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/open-sea/) · [湖](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/lake/) · [湯](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/hot-water/)

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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/n3-kanji/lake/. Last updated 2026-11-01.