時（じ、ji）
- time

The Japanese word 時（じ, *ji*） primarily means "time." It can refer to a specific point in time, a period of time, or an occasion. It's a fundamental word used in countless contexts related to temporal concepts. 時 is versatile and has various shades of meaning depending on the context.

⚫︎ 今時 Translation: Now / Present time ⚫︎ あの時 Translation: At that time / Then ⚫︎ 勉強する時 Translation: When studying / The time to study

⚫︎ 時 is used to indicate a specific point in time, such as a clock 時 (e.g., 午前八時, 8 AM), or to represent a period or duration (e.g., 一時間, one hour). ⚫︎ It can also signify an occasion or situation, like in the phrase その時 (at that time, in that situation). ⚫︎ The word is often combined with other words to create more specific time-related expressions, such as 時間 (time, duration), 時々 (sometimes), and 時期 (period, season).

⚫︎ The word is most commonly written with the kanji 時. ⚫︎ The reading is じ (ji) in hiragana. ⚫︎ There are no significant variations in okurigana.

⚫︎ 時間（じかん, *jikan*): Time, duration. ⚫︎ 頃（ごろ, *goro*): Around, about (a time). ⚫︎ 折（おり, *ori*): Occasion, time.

There aren't direct antonyms for 時, but concepts related to timelessness or eternity could be considered opposites. Words like 永遠（えいえん, *eien*, eternity) or 無時間（むじかん, *mujikan*, timelessness) might be relevant.

明日は学校に行く時間がない。 ・Translation: I don't have time to go to school tomorrow. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 時間 (*jikan*) which is the combination of 時 (*ji*) and 間 (*kan*), meaning "time" or "duration."

その時、私はとても嬉しかった。 ・Translation: At that time, I was very happy. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 時 (*ji*) to refer to a specific point in the past.

The kanji 時 is a phono-semantic compound. The left side (日, *hi*) means "sun" or "day," and the right side (寺, *tera*) originally meant "temple" or "place." The association is with the sun's position changing over the course of the day at a temple where monks observe time. Over time, it came to generally represent time.