Japanese symbol for “adl”

日常生活動作

にちじょうせいかつどうさ

Romaji: nichijouseikatsudousa

activities of daily living; ADL; normal activities of daily life

In Japanese, adl is 日常生活動作, read にちじょうせいかつどうさ (nichijouseikatsudousa).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

n activities of daily living; ADL; normal activities of daily life (med)

Kanji and stroke order

日

day, sun, Japan

on: ニチ、ジツ
kun: ひ、-び、-か

4 strokes · JLPT 4

常

usual, ordinary, normal

on: ジョウ
kun: つね、とこ-

11 strokes · JLPT 2

生

life, genuine, birth

on: セイ、ショウ
kun: い.きる、い.かす、い.ける、う.まれる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

活

lively, resuscitation, being helped

on: カツ
kun: い.きる、い.かす、い.ける

9 strokes · JLPT 2

動

move, motion, change

on: ドウ
kun: うご.く、うご.かす

11 strokes · JLPT 3

作

make, production, prepare

on: サク、サ
kun: つく.る、つく.り、-づく.り

7 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
今日	きょう kyou	today; this day
日本	にほん nihon	Japan
毎日	まいにち mainichi	every day; daily
明日	あした ashita	tomorrow
昨日	きのう kinou	yesterday
日常	にちじょう nichijou	everyday; daily; ordinary
非常	ひじょう hijou	emergency
通常	つうじょう tsuujou	usual; ordinary; normal
生活	せいかつ seikatsu	life; living
活動	かつどう katsudou	activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation
行動	こうどう koudou	action; conduct; behaviour
作る	つくる tsukuru	to make; to produce; to manufacture

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.