King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “feed”

Romaji: esa
(animal) feed; fodder; pet food

In Japanese, feed is , read (esa).

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 (animal) feed; fodder; pet food
  2. n bait; lure; enticement

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

food, bait, prey
on: ジ、ニ
kun: え、えば、えさ、もち
14 strokes

Other Japanese words for “feed”

WordReadingMeaning
かう kauto keep (a pet or other animal); to have; to own
しりょう shiryoufodder; feed
くわす kuwasuto feed (e.g. an animal on oats); to let eat; to serve (e.g. in a restaurant)
おくりこみ okurikomifeed
フィード fiido(web) feed

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
えじき ejikiprey (i.e. of a predator); kill
えづけ ezukeartificial feeding (of wild animals); accustoming (a wild animal) to accepting food from humans; hand-feeding
きゅうじ kyuujifeeding (an animal)
しょくじ shokujifood (esp. for a medical diet)
まきえ makiescattered animal feed; ground bait
いきえ ikielive bait

See also: Chinese symbol for “feed”.

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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