King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “increment”

Romaji: zouka
increase; rise; growth; addition

In Japanese, increment is , read (zouka).

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, vi, vs increase; rise; growth; addition; increment

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

increase, add, augment
on: ゾウ
kun: ま.す、ま.し、ふ.える、ふ.やす
14 strokes · JLPT 2
add, addition, increase
on: カ
kun: くわ.える、くわ.わる
5 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “increment”

WordReadingMeaning
ぞうぶん zoubunincrement
ぞうかぶん zoukabunincrement; addition; (amount of) increase
きざみち kizamichiincrement; step value
ぞうかりょう zoukaryouincrement; amount of increase
インクリメント inkurimentoincrement

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ふえる fueruto increase; to multiply
まし mashibetter; preferable; less objectionable
ぞうぜい zouzeitax increase
ぞうだい zoudaienlargement; increase
きゅうぞう kyuuzourapid increase; sharp rise; proliferation
さんか sankaparticipation; joining; entry
ついか tsuikaaddition; supplement; appending
かこう kakoumanufacturing; processing; treatment

See also: Chinese symbol for “increment”.

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.