Japanese symbol for “ancients”
古代人
こだいじん
Romaji: kodaijin
the ancients; ancient people
In Japanese, ancients is 古代人, read こだいじん (kodaijin).
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 the ancients; ancient people
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “ancients”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 昔人 | むかしびと mukashibito | previous generations; people of the past; ancients |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 古い | ふるい furui | old; aged; ancient |
| 古代 | こだい kodai | ancient times; distant past; antiquity |
| 中古 | ちゅうこ chuuko | used; second-hand; old |
| 古典 | こてん koten | classic (work, esp. book); the classics |
| 稽古 | けいこ keiko | practice; practising; training |
| 古本 | ふるほん furuhon | secondhand book |
| 時代 | じだい jidai | period; epoch; era |
| 代表 | だいひょう daihyou | representation; representative; delegate |
| 人間 | にんげん ningen | human being; human; person |
See also: Chinese symbol for “ancients”.
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.