Japanese symbol for “cast”
落とす
おとす
Romaji: otosu
to drop; to lose; to let fall; to shed (light)
In Japanese, cast is 落とす, read おとす (otosu).
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
- v5s, vt to drop; to lose; to let fall; to shed (light); to cast (one's gaze); to pour in (liquid)
- v5s, vt to clean off (dirt, makeup, paint, etc.); to remove (e.g. stains or facial hair); to lose; to spend money at a certain place; to omit; to leave out
- v5s, vt to lose (a match); to reject (an applicant); to fail (a course); to defeat (in an election)
- v5s, vt to lower (e.g. shoulders or voice); to lessen (e.g. production or body weight); to worsen (quality); to reduce (e.g. rank or popularity); to speak badly of; to make light of
- v5s, vt to fall into (e.g. a dilemma or sin); to make one's own; to have one's bid accepted; to force surrender; to take (e.g. an enemy camp or castle); to forcefully convince
- v5s, vt to download; to copy from a computer to another medium (comp)
Written forms: 落とす、落す、堕とす、墜とす. Readings: おとす.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “cast”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 顔ぶれ | かおぶれ kaobure | personnel; members; lineup (of a team) |
| キャスト | キャスト kyasuto | cast (of a film, play, etc.); cast member; role |
| 投げる | なげる nageru | to throw; to hurl; to fling |
| 投じる | とうじる toujiru | to throw; to cast (e.g. vote, light, shadow) |
| 版 | はん han | plate; block; cast |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 落ちる | おちる ochiru | to fall; to drop; to come down |
| 落ち | おち ochi | slip; omission |
| 墜落 | ついらく tsuiraku | fall; crash (of an aircraft) |
| 落語 | らくご rakugo | rakugo; traditional Japanese comic storytelling; comic story (told by a professional storyteller) |
| 落下 | らっか rakka | fall; drop; descent |
See also: Chinese symbol for “cast”.
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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