How to say "arm" in Japanese

• 手てJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounPrimarily 'hand', but Japanese also uses it where English would say 'arm', treating hand and arm as one — reaching out or raising a hand. For the bare limb, 腕 is the word you want.
  こちらに来くるように手てで合図あいずした。↗

  I made motions at him to come here with my hand.
• 足あしJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounFor a person this means foot or leg; for animals, paw. Its 'arm' sense applies only to octopuses and squid, whose arms are 足, not 腕.
  また足あしがしびれた。↗

  My foot's asleep again!
• 腕うでJLPT N4approx.Common
  nounThe word you want for a person's arm, the limb from shoulder to hand: a broken arm, strong arms, carrying a child in one's arms.
  ＡＬＳのために、彼かれの手てや腕うではペンを握にぎったりタイプを打うったりすることができないほど弱よわくなってしまっていた。↗

  ALS had made his hands and arms too weak to hold a pen or to type.
• アームCommon
  nounThe English loanword, found mainly in mechanical and technical contexts — a robot's arm, a crane's arm, a machine's arm. It is not used for a person's arm; use 腕 there.
• 外装がいそうCommon
  no-adjectiveNot a word for the limb at all: it means a thing's exterior, cladding, or packaging, or armor — a protective outer covering. It is never the way to say a person's arm.

For a person's arm use 腕; 手 means hand but can cover the whole limb in action; 足 serves only for an octopus or squid's arms; 「アーム」 is the loanword for machinery; 外装 never means the limb.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 手てhand
• 足あしfoot
• 腕うでarm
• アームarm
• 外装がいそうexterior
• 腕かいなarm
• お手おてhand
• テンプルtemple (on a pair of glasses)