階段|かいだんkaidan[0]heiban (flat)
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- nounstairs; stairway; staircaseその階段を上ってはいけません。↗You must not go up the stairs.
- 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


