King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “hardening”

Romaji: katame
hardening; fortifying

In Japanese, hardening is , read (katame).

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 hardening; fortifying
  2. n pledge; vow
  3. n defense; defence; guarding

Kanji and stroke order

harden, set, clot
on: コ
kun: かた.める、かた.まる、かた.まり、かた.い
8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “hardening”

WordReadingMeaning
こうか koukahardening; vulcanization; vulcanisation
やきいれ yakiirequenching; hardening; tempering
しこり shikorilump (in tissue, esp. breast); swelling; hardening
こけつ koketsuhardening; consolidation

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こてい koteifixing (in place); being fixed (in place); securing
こゆう koyuucharacteristic (of); peculiar (to); inherent (in)
がんこ gankostubborn; obstinate; pigheaded
かためる katameruto harden; to freeze; to strengthen
こたい kotaisolid (body); solid matter; solid-state

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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