Japanese symbol for “benthic”

底生

ていせい

Romaji: teisei

benthic; sea-bottom

In Japanese, benthic is 底生, read ていせい (teisei).

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

adj-f benthic; sea-bottom

Kanji and stroke order

底

bottom, sole, depth

on: テイ
kun: そこ

8 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

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
徹底	てってい tettei	thoroughness; completeness; consistency
海底	かいてい kaitei	bottom of the ocean; seafloor; seabed
到底	とうてい toutei	(cannot) possibly; (not) by any means; (not) at all
根底	こんてい kontei	root; basis; foundation
底辺	ていへん teihen	base (of a polygon)
心底	しんそこ shinsoko	bottom of one's heart; depths of one's mind; innermost thoughts
生活	せいかつ seikatsu	life; living
先生	せんせい sensei	teacher; instructor; master

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.