花びら（はなびら、hanabira）
- petal

The Japanese word 花びら (はなびら) refers to a flower petal. It is the individual, often colorful, segments that make up a flower's corolla. Think of it as one of the "leaves" of a flower, but with a specific name. Each 花びら plays a role in attracting pollinators or protecting the flower's reproductive parts.

⚫︎桜の花びら Translation: Cherry blossom petals. ⚫︎風が花びらを散らした。 Translation: The wind scattered the petals. ⚫︎赤いバラの花びらが美しい。 Translation: The petals of the red rose are beautiful.

You use 花びら when you're talking about individual petals. It's commonly used when describing the beauty of flowers, especially during spring (sakura/cherry blossom season) or in poetry. You can use it in both formal and informal conversations.

花びら is typically written as: ⚫︎ Kanji: 花びら ⚫︎ Hiragana: はなびら The word is always written with hiragana, as びら is the okurigana for the kanji 花. There is no katakana version.

There aren't many direct synonyms for 花びら. The closest words would depend on the context: ⚫︎ If you want to describe the entire flower: 花（はな - flower） ⚫︎ For a more general term for leaves, but not specific to flowers: 葉（は - leaf）

There is no direct antonym.

春になると、桜の花びらが舞い散る。 ・Translation: When spring comes, cherry blossom petals flutter down. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the typical scene of falling cherry blossom petals in spring.

その女の子は、花びらで冠を作った。 ・Translation: That girl made a crown out of petals. ・Explanation: This sentence portrays a scene where someone is creatively using flower petals.

The word 花びら is derived from 花（はな - flower) and 片（ひら - a piece/fragment/flat thing). Combining these, 花びら literally means "flower piece" or "flower fragment," reflecting the segmented nature of a flower's corolla. The ひら part is also related to other words describing flat, thin objects.