1. a Japanese syllabic writing system consisting of 46 basic characters used primarily for native Japanese words and grammatical elements
Usage: linguistics

Examples

• Students learning Japanese typically start with hiragana before moving on to katakana and kanji.
• The word ‘sakura’ can be written in hiragana as さくら.
• Hiragana characters are more curved and flowing than the angular katakana symbols.
• Children’s books in Japan are often written entirely in hiragana.
• She practiced writing hiragana characters until she could form them perfectly.
• The hiragana syllabary includes characters for sounds like ‘ka’, ‘ki’, ‘ku’, ‘ke’, and ‘ko’.