King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “bce”

Romaji: kigenzen
pre-era; BC; BCE

In Japanese, bce is , read (kigenzen).

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

  1. adv, n pre-era; BC; BCE

Kanji and stroke order

chronicle, account, narrative
on: キ
9 strokes · JLPT 1
beginning, former time, origin
on: ゲン、ガン
kun: もと
4 strokes · JLPT 3
in front, before
on: ゼン
kun: まえ、-まえ
9 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
せいき seikicentury
きこう kikoutraveller's journal; traveler's journal; travelogue
きげん kigenera
ふうき fuukipublic morals; discipline; rules governing social behavior
こうき koukilaw and order; (official) discipline
げんき genkilively; full of spirit; energetic
じもと jimotohome area; home town
じげん jigendimension
なまえ namaename

See also: Chinese symbol for “bce”.

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.

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