Japanese Word for

兄弟

kyōdai

brothers · siblings

Brother words

  • OLDER兄 (あに)ani — older brother (humble)
  • OLDERお兄さんonii-san — older brother (polite)
  • YOUNGER弟 (おとうと)otōto — younger brother

Context

Japanese has separate words for older and younger brothers. 兄弟 (kyōdai) means "brothers" or "siblings" in general. Birth order matters — there is no single word that means "brother" without specifying older or younger.

Example words

兄

ani

older brother (humble form)

弟

otōto

younger brother

兄弟

kyōdai

brothers, siblings

兄貴

aniki

bro, older brother (casual/yakuza)

長男

chōnan

eldest son

次男

jinan

second son

Japanese sibling terms encode birth order: 兄 (ani) = older brother, 弟 (otōto) = younger brother, 姉 (ane) = older sister, 妹 (imōto) = younger sister. See Japanese Symbol for Older Brother for the full kanji reference on 兄.

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