King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “carbon”

Romaji: tanso
carbon (C)

In Japanese, carbon is , read (tanso).

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. n carbon (C)

Kanji and stroke order

charcoal, coal
on: タン
kun: すみ
9 strokes · JLPT 2
elementary, principle, naked
on: ソ、ス
kun: もと
10 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “carbon”

WordReadingMeaning
カーボン kaaboncarbon
くろこんごうせき kurokongousekiblack diamond; carbon; carbonado

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
せきたん sekitancoal
たんさん tansancarbonic acid
たんこう tankoucoal mine; (coal) pit; colliery
たんすいかぶつ tansuikabutsucarbohydrate
もくたん mokutancharcoal
ようそ yousoelement; component; factor
そざい sozaiingredient; (raw) material; resource
すてき sutekilovely; wonderful; charming

See also: Chinese symbol for “carbon”.

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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