Japanese symbol for “gearing”

伝動

でんどう

Romaji: dendou

transmission (of motive power); drive; gearing

In Japanese, gearing is 伝動, read でんどう (dendou).

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 transmission (of motive power); drive; gearing

Kanji and stroke order

伝

transmit, go along, walk along

on: デン、テン
kun: つた.わる、つた.える、つた.う、つだ.う

6 strokes · JLPT 2

動

move, motion, change

on: ドウ
kun: うご.く、うご.かす

11 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
伝統	でんとう dentou	tradition; convention
宣伝	せんでん senden	publicity; advertisement; advertising
伝説	でんせつ densetsu	legend; folklore; tradition
手伝い	てつだい tetsudai	helper; assistant
遺伝	いでん iden	heredity; (genetic) inheritance
遺伝子	いでんし idenshi	gene
活動	かつどう katsudou	activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation
行動	こうどう koudou	action; conduct; behaviour

See also: Chinese symbol for “gearing”.

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.