King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “likely”

Romaji: tabun
probably; likely; perhaps; maybe

In Japanese, likely is , read (tabun).

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. adv probably; likely; perhaps; maybe
  2. adj-na, adj-no a lot of; much; many; considerable; large (amount); generous

Kanji and stroke order

many, frequent, much
on: タ
kun: おお.い、まさ.に、まさ.る
6 strokes · JLPT 4
part, minute of time, segment
on: ブン、フン、ブ
kun: わ.ける、わ.け、わ.かれる、わ.かる
4 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “likely”

WordReadingMeaning
おそらく osorakuprobably; (most) likely; in all likelihood
ゆうりょく yuuryokustrong; powerful; likely
どうやら douyarapossibly; apparently; (seem) likely
のうこう noukouprobable; (very) likely; strong (suspicion, sense, etc.)
おそらくは osorakuhaprobably; (most) likely; in all likelihood

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
たすう tasuularge number (of); many
たよう tayoudiverse; various
たしょう tashoua little; some; somewhat
おおい ooimany; numerous; a lot
ただい tadaigreat (quantity, amount, etc.); huge; enormous
じぶん jibunmyself; yourself; oneself
ぶぶん bubunportion; section; part
きぶん kibunfeeling; mood

See also: Chinese symbol for “likely”.

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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