King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “covenant”

Romaji: meiyaku
oath; pledge; pact; covenant

In Japanese, covenant is , read (meiyaku).

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, vs, vt oath; pledge; pact; covenant; alliance

Kanji and stroke order

alliance, oath
on: メイ
13 strokes · JLPT 1
promise, approximately, shrink
on: ヤク
kun: つづ.まる、つづ.める、つづま.やか
9 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “covenant”

WordReadingMeaning
せいやく seiyakuoath; vow; pledge
せいやくしょ seiyakushowritten oath; covenant; pledge

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
どうめい doumeialliance; union; league
かめい kameijoining (an association, agreement, etc.); participation; affiliation
れんめい renmeileague; federation; union
めいゆう meiyuusworn friend
めいしゅ meishuleader (of an alliance); leading power
けいやく keiyakucontract; compact; agreement
よやく yoyakureservation; appointment; booking
やくそく yakusokupromise; agreement; arrangement

See also: Chinese symbol for “covenant”.

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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