n.
Pronunciation: ' kä-n ə
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural kana
Usage: often attrib
Etymology: Japanese
Date: 1727
: a Japanese system of syllabic writing having characters that can be used exclusively for writing foreign words or in combination with kanji (as for indicating pronunciations or grammatical inflections) also : a single character belonging to the kana system ― compare HIRAGANA , KATAKANA