Japanese symbol for “eating”
食い
くい
Romaji: kui
eating
In Japanese, eating is 食い, read くい (kui).
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 eating
- n bite (in fishing)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “eating”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 食 | しょく shoku | eating; appetite |
| 頂戴 | ちょうだい choudai | eating; drinking; having |
| 喫食 | きっしょく kisshoku | eating; having a meal |
| 食み | はみ hami | eating (fodder, grass, etc.) |
| 摂食 | せっしょく sesshoku | eating; feeding |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 食事 | しょくじ shokuji | meal (e.g. lunch, dinner) |
| 食品 | しょくひん shokuhin | food; food products; foodstuffs |
| 食べ物 | たべもの tabemono | food |
| 食料 | しょくりょう shokuryou | food |
| 食べる | たべる taberu | to eat |
| 食う | くう kuu | to eat |
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.