Japanese symbol for “alongside”
伝い
づたい
Romaji: zutai
along (a wall, river, railroad tracks, etc.); alongside; following
In Japanese, alongside is 伝い, read づたい (zutai).
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
- suf along (a wall, river, railroad tracks, etc.); alongside; following
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “alongside”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 並んで | ならんで narande | alongside; side-by-side; abreast |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 伝統 | でんとう dentou | tradition; convention |
| 宣伝 | せんでん senden | publicity; advertisement; advertising |
| 伝説 | でんせつ densetsu | legend; folklore; tradition |
| 手伝い | てつだい tetsudai | helper; assistant |
| 遺伝 | いでん iden | heredity; (genetic) inheritance |
| 遺伝子 | いでんし idenshi | gene |
See also: Chinese symbol for “alongside”.
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.