Japanese symbol for “invent”

生み出す

うみだす

Romaji: umidasu

to create; to bring forth; to produce

In Japanese, invent is 生み出す, read うみだす (umidasu).

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

v5s, vt to create; to bring forth; to produce
v5s, vt to invent; to think up and bring into being
v5s, vt to give birth to; to bear

Written forms: 生み出す、産み出す、生みだす、産みだす. Readings: うみだす.

Kanji and stroke order

生

life, genuine, birth

on: セイ、ショウ
kun: い.きる、い.かす、い.ける、う.まれる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

出

exit, leave, go out

on: シュツ、スイ
kun: で.る、-で、だ.す、-だ.す

5 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “invent”

Word	Reading	Meaning
作り出す	つくりだす tsukuridasu	to invent; to dream up; to create
企む	たくらむ takuramu	to scheme; to plan; to play a trick
考え出す	かんがえだす kangaedasu	to think out; to devise; to invent
編み出す	あみだす amidasu	to think up; to think out; to work out
作り上げる	つくりあげる tsukuriageru	to make up; to fabricate; to invent

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
生活	せいかつ seikatsu	life; living
先生	せんせい sensei	teacher; instructor; master
人生	じんせい jinsei	(one's) life
学生	がくせい gakusei	student (esp. a university student)
発生	はっせい hassei	occurrence; incidence; outbreak
誕生	たんじょう tanjou	birth (of a person); nativity
出演	しゅつえん shutsuen	appearance (in a film, play, TV show, etc.); performance
出す	だす dasu	to take out; to get out

See also: Chinese symbol for “invent”.

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.