Japanese symbol for “dovetail”

切り組む

きりくむ

Romaji: kirikumu

to piece together; to mortise; to miter; to dovetail

In Japanese, dovetail is 切り組む, read きりくむ (kirikumu).

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

v5m, vt to piece together; to mortise; to miter; to dovetail

Kanji and stroke order

切

cut, cutoff, be sharp

on: セツ、サイ
kun: き.る、-き.る、き.り、-き.り

4 strokes · JLPT 3

組

association, braid, plait

on: ソ
kun: く.む、くみ、-ぐみ

11 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
大切	たいせつ taisetsu	important; significant; serious
一切	いっさい issai	all; everything; entirety
適切	てきせつ tekisetsu	appropriate; suitable; fitting
切り	きり kiri	end; finish; place to stop
切る	きる kiru	to cut; to cut through; to perform (surgery)
親切	しんせつ shinsetsu	kind; gentle; considerate
番組	ばんぐみ bangumi	program (e.g. TV); programme
組織	そしき soshiki	organization; organisation; formation

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.