音読み

Compound of 音 (on, “sound”) +‎ 読み (yomi, “reading”). Originally referred to the sounds (i.e. pronunciations) to use when reading Chinese text, as opposed to the meanings of these Chinese words in Japanese (called 訓読み (kun'yomi) or 訓読 (kundoku)).[1][2]

• (Tokyo) おんよみ [òń'yómí] (Heiban – [0])[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [õ̞ɰ̃jo̞mʲi]

音(おん)読(よ)み • (on'yomi) 

1. (linguistics) the reading of a Japanese word written in kanji that is roughly based on the pronunciation of the kanji characters in the originating Chinese dialect at the time the word was introduced into Japanese

   Synonym: 音読 (ondoku)

   Antonyms: 訓読み (kun'yomi), 訓読 (kundoku) (a kanji reading based on the original Japanese word of that meaning)

As words written in kanji were brought to Japan at different times rather than all at once, each 音読み can be categorized as 呉音 (goon), 漢音 (kan'on), or 唐音 (tōon), among other subcategories, depending on the originating dialect. Thus, the same kanji may be used to mean different things depending on the reading, reflecting the differences between the source Chinese dialects, such as 利益 which means profit when read with the 漢音 pronunciation りえき (rieki), but means Buddhist blessing or salvation when read with the 呉音 pronunciation りやく (riyaku).

音読み loosely corresponds to 漢語 (kango), with the former signifying the reading and the latter signifying the word itself.

• 漢(かん)文(ぶん) (kanbun): Chinese writing, Chinese literature, Chinese classics
• 漢(かん)語(ご) (kango): a Chinese-derived word borrowed into Japanese generally before the 1300s (as opposed to more recent borrowings, usually classified as gairaigo)
• 外(がい)来(らい)語(ご) (gairaigo): a foreign word borrowed into Japanese generally in the 1300s or later

音(おん)読(よ)みする • (on'yomi suru) suru (stem 音(おん)読(よ)みし (on'yomi shi), past 音(おん)読(よ)みした (on'yomi shita))

1. to use the on'yomi of a word, to read a word using the pronunciation based on the original Chinese pronunciation