Japanese symbol for “erasure”
消去
しょうきょ
Romaji: shoukyo
erasure; deletion; elimination; clearing
In Japanese, erasure is 消去, read しょうきょ (shoukyo).
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, vs, vt erasure; deletion; elimination; clearing
- n, vs, vt elimination (of variables) (math)
- n, vs, vt extinction (psych)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “erasure”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 抹消 | まっしょう masshou | erasure; striking off; crossing out |
| 削除 | さくじょ sakujo | deletion; elimination; erasure |
| 抹殺 | まっさつ massatsu | erasure (of writing); rubbing out; scrubbing out |
| 消却 | しょうきゃく shoukyaku | erasure; effacement |
| 消除 | しょうじょ shoujo | deletion; removal; elimination |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 消費 | しょうひ shouhi | consumption; expenditure; spending |
| 解消 | かいしょう kaishou | cancellation; liquidation; resolution |
| 消滅 | しょうめつ shoumetsu | extinction; extinguishment; disappearance |
| 消防 | しょうぼう shoubou | fire fighting |
| 消化 | しょうか shouka | digestion (of food) |
| 取り消し | とりけし torikeshi | cancellation; withdrawal; abolition |
| 過去 | かこ kako | the past; bygone days |
| 去年 | きょねん kyonen | last year |
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.