階段|かいだんkaidan[0]heiban (flat)

JLPT N5approx.Common
Definitions
  1. nounstairs; stairway; staircase
    その階段かいだんを上のぼってはいけません。↗
    You must not go up the stairs.
Synonyms & antonyms
  • Synonym上がり段あがりだんNeutralThe steps at a building entrance leading up from the ground to the floor; a narrower term than 「階段」 and not used for stairs between floors.
  • Synonym階梯かいていWrittenWritten/formal prose word for stairs, mostly figurative for levels of learning or an introductory text, as in 「哲学の階梯」; for everyday stairs say 「階段」.
  • Synonym梯子段はしごだんCasualColloquial and somewhat dated word for stairs, as in 「梯子段を上る」; also each individual step of a stairway or ladder. In everyday speech 「階段」 is the norm.
  • RelatedはしごNeutralA portable ladder you lean against a wall; figuratively, visiting several places in succession, as in 「はしご酒」. Fixed stairways are 「階段」.
  • Related階きざはしWrittenRead 「きざはし」: an archaic, literary word for stairs, also the steps before a noh stage. For ordinary stairs use 「階段」.

Use 「階段」 as the default for stairs. 「梯子」 is a portable ladder (or barhopping-style visits), 「上がり段」 the entrance steps, 「階梯」 a written word for figurative steps in learning, and 「きざはし」 an archaic literary alternative.

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

Japanese definitions
  1. 高たかさの異ことなる所ところへ行き来いききするための段々だんだんの通路つうろ。
  2. 大富豪だいふごう/大だい貧民ひんみんにおいて、3枚まい以上いじょうの同一どういつスート・連続れんぞくランクのカードを出だすことを認みとめる追加ついかルール。このルールによって、カードが出だされた際さいは、次つぎの番ばんの競技者きょうぎしゃも階段かいだんの規則きそくに従したがってカードを出ださなければならない。
Kanji in this word
English equivalents

JLPT vocabulary levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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