十
TEN
Mnemonic
In Ancient Rome, the numeral for TEN was X. If you rotate that Roman numeral 45 degrees, you’ll see it turn into 十. Just picture it as a rotated X, and you’ll always remember this stands for TEN.
Example Vocabulary
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十人（じゅうにん） – ten people
Click to recall: 人 = -
十月（じゅうがつ） – October (tenth month)
Click to recall: 月 = -
十日（とおか） – the 10th day of the month
Click to recall: 日 = -
十目（じゅうもく） – all eyes, everyone watching
Click to recall: 目 = - 一から十まで（いちからじゅうまで） – from beginning to end; everything Click to recall: 一 =
The number of completion:
With 十, we reach a natural sense of wholeness. Expressions like 十目 (“all eyes”) and 一から十まで (“from beginning to end”) show how 十 extends beyond counting to represent completeness. Fittingly, this kanji also marks the end of our first chapter — a reminder that every set has a beginning and an end, and finishing one chapter is the start of the next.