Japanese symbol for “kindle”
焚く
たく
Romaji: taku
to burn; to kindle; to light (a fire); to make (a fire)
In Japanese, kindle is 焚く, read たく (taku).
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
- v5k, vt to burn; to kindle; to light (a fire); to make (a fire)
- v5k, vt to heat (a bath); to light (a stove); to stoke (a boiler)
- v5k, vt to use (a camera flash)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “kindle”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 焚きつける | たきつける takitsukeru | to light (a fire); to kindle |
| キンドル | キンドル kindoru | Kindle (Amazon's e-book reader) |
| 点じる | てんじる tenjiru | to drop; to light; to kindle |
| 点ずる | てんずる tenzuru | to drop; to light; to kindle |
| 掻き立てる | かきたてる kakitateru | to arouse (interest, feelings, etc.); to stir; to stoke |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 焚き火 | たきび takibi | open-air fire (e.g. for garden refuse); bonfire; campfire |
| 焚書 | ふんしょ funsho | book burning |
| 焚きつけ | たきつけ takitsuke | kindling; firelighter |
| 焚書坑儒 | ふんしょこうじゅ funshokouju | burning books on the Chinese classics and burying Confucian scholars alive (Qin dynasty thought suppression campaign) |
| 空焚き | からだき karadaki | heating a vessel without water in it; heating an empty pan, kettle, boiler, bathtub, etc. |
See also: Chinese symbol for “kindle”.
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.