元号

See also: 元號

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 元号 – see 元號. (This term is the simplified form of 元號).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
元	号
げん Grade: 2	ごう Grade: 3
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
元號 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Sinitic 元號／元号 (yuánhào).

Noun

元(げん)号(ごう) • (gengō) 

1. an era name, imperial era name
   • 2019, “Shin-gengō wa 'Reiwa' shutten wa 'Manyōshū' [Source of new era name 'Reiwa' is the Manyōshū]”, in NHK‎^[1]:

     平(へい)成(せい)に代(か)わる新(あたら)しい元(げん)号(ごう)について、政(せい)府(ふ)は ４(し)月(がつ) １日(ついたち)の臨(りん)時(じ)閣(かく)議(ぎ)で「令(れい)和(わ)」とする

     Heisei ni kawaru atarashii gengō nitsuite, seifu wa shigatsu tsuitachi no rinji kakugi de “Reiwa” to suru

     The new era name in place of Heisei is Reiwa, the government announced April 1 in an extraordinary Cabinet meeting.

Usage notes

Gengō are applied to periods from a few years to several decades. Such era names were used in former times in China and many other East Asian nations; now used only in Taiwan and Japan.

Synonyms

• 年(ねん)号(ごう) (nengō)