kan·ji (kän?j?)n. pl. kanji or kan·jis 1. A Japanese system of writing based on borrowed or modified Chinese characters.2. A character used in this system of writing.[Japanese : kan, Chinese (from Middle Chinese xan`); see Han1 + ji, character (from Middle Chinese dz??h; also the source of Mandarin jì and akin to Mandarin z?, child, since certain characters were said to be derived from simpler characters, and ultimately derived from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa, child; akin to Tibetan tsha, grandchild).]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.kanji (?kænd??; ?k??n-) n, pl -ji or -jis1. (Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) a Japanese writing system using characters mainly derived from Chinese ideograms2. (Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) a character in this system[Japanese, from Chinese han Chinese + zi character]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014kan?ji (?k?n d?i) n. a system of Japanese writing using Chinese-derived characters. [1915?20;