King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “dissolve”

Romaji: tokasu
to melt; to liquefy; to thaw

In Japanese, dissolve is , read (tokasu).

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. v5s, vt to melt; to liquefy; to thaw
  2. v5s, vt to dissolve (in a liquid); to bring into solution
  3. v5s, vt to lose (money; through gambling, etc.); to squander

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

melt, dissolve, thaw
on: ヨウ
kun: と.ける、と.かす、と.く
13 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “dissolve”

WordReadingMeaning
とく tokuto dissolve (a contract); to cancel; to remove (a prohibition)
ちる chiruto disappear; to dissolve; to break up
とける tokeruto dissolve (in a liquid); to be soluble (in)
とく tokuto mix (e.g. water with flour); to dissolve (salt in water, paint, etc.); to mix in
ディゾルブ dizorubudissolve

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ようかい youkaidissolution; dissolving; solution (e.g. chemical)
ようがん youganlava
ようせつ yousetsuwelding
ようえき youekisolution (liquid)
ようこうろ youkourosmelting furnace; blast furnace

See also: Chinese symbol for “dissolve”.

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.