Japanese symbol for “augmenting”

増補

ぞうほ

Romaji: zouho

extending (e.g. a book); augmenting; enlarging; supplementing

In Japanese, augmenting is 増補, read ぞうほ (zouho).

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, vs, vt extending (e.g. a book); augmenting; enlarging; supplementing

Kanji and stroke order

増

increase, add, augment

on: ゾウ
kun: ま.す、ま.し、ふ.える、ふ.やす

14 strokes · JLPT 2

補

supplement, supply, make good

on: ホ
kun: おぎな.う

12 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
増加	ぞうか zouka	increase; rise; growth
増える	ふえる fueru	to increase; to multiply
増し	まし mashi	better; preferable; less objectionable
増税	ぞうぜい zouzei	tax increase
増大	ぞうだい zoudai	enlargement; increase
急増	きゅうぞう kyuuzou	rapid increase; sharp rise; proliferation
候補	こうほ kouho	candidate; contender; prospect
補助	ほじょ hojo	assistance; support; help

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.