Japanese symbol for “biodegradable”

生分解性

せいぶんかいせい

Romaji: seibunkaisei

biodegradable

In Japanese, biodegradable is 生分解性, read せいぶんかいせい (seibunkaisei).

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-no biodegradable
n biodegradability

Kanji and stroke order

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

分

part, minute of time, segment

on: ブン、フン、ブ
kun: わ.ける、わ.け、わ.かれる、わ.かる

4 strokes · JLPT 4

解

unravel, notes, key

on: カイ、ゲ
kun: と.く、と.かす、と.ける、ほど.く

13 strokes · JLPT 2

性

sex, gender, nature

on: セイ、ショウ
kun: さが

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
生活	せいかつ seikatsu	life; living
先生	せんせい sensei	teacher; instructor; master
人生	じんせい jinsei	(one's) life
学生	がくせい gakusei	student (esp. a university student)
発生	はっせい hassei	occurrence; incidence; outbreak
誕生	たんじょう tanjou	birth (of a person); nativity
自分	じぶん jibun	myself; yourself; oneself
部分	ぶぶん bubun	portion; section; part
理解	りかい rikai	understanding; comprehension; appreciation
女性	じょせい josei	woman; female

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.