Japanese symbol for “cilia”

繊毛

せんもう

Romaji: senmou

cilium; cilia

In Japanese, cilia is 繊毛, read せんもう (senmou).

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

n cilium; cilia (biol)
n fine hairs

Kanji and stroke order

繊

slender, fine, thin kimono

on: セン

17 strokes · JLPT 1

毛

fur, hair, feather

on: モウ
kun: け

4 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
繊維	せんい sen'i	fibre; fiber
繊細	せんさい sensai	dainty; delicate (e.g. fingers); fine
合繊	ごうせん gousen	synthetic fiber; synthetic fibre
化繊	かせん kasen	synthetic fiber; synthetic fibre; chemical fiber
筋繊維	きんせんい kinsen'i	muscle fiber; muscle fibre
繊維状	せんいじょう sen'ijou	fibrous; filamentous; fibrillary
髪の毛	かみのけ kaminoke	hair (on the head); (a) hair
毛布	もうふ moufu	blanket

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.