King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “cardinal”

Romaji: suukikyou
cardinal (Catholic Church)

In Japanese, cardinal is , read (suukikyou).

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 cardinal (Catholic Church) (Christn)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

hinge, pivot, door
on: スウ、シュ
kun: とぼそ、からくり
8 strokes · JLPT 1
loom, mechanism, machine
on: キ
kun: はた
16 strokes · JLPT 2
you, lord, secretary
on: ケイ、キョウ
kun: きみ
12 strokes

Other Japanese words for “cardinal”

WordReadingMeaning
カーディナル kaadinarucardinal (Catholic prelate)
すうよう suuyou(most) important; principal; pivotal
こうかんちょう koukanchoucardinal (bird) (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ちゅうすう chuusuucentre; center; pivot
すうじく suujikuaxle; pivot
すうみついん suumitsuinPrivy Council (abolished in 1947)
すうよう suuyou(most) important; principal; pivotal
ちゅうすうしんけい chuusuushinkeicentral nerves
きのう kinoufunction; facility; faculty
きかん kikanengine
きかい kikaichance; opportunity; occasion
くぎょう kugyouhigh-ranking court noble; senior court official; kugyō

See also: Chinese symbol for “cardinal”.

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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