Japanese symbol for “liturgy”

典礼

てんれい

Romaji: tenrei

ceremony; etiquette; courtesy; (Catholic) liturgy

In Japanese, liturgy is 典礼, read てんれい (tenrei).

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

adj-no, n ceremony; etiquette; courtesy; (Catholic) liturgy

Kanji and stroke order

典

code, ceremony, law

on: テン、デン
kun: ふみ、のり

8 strokes · JLPT 1

礼

salute, bow, ceremony

on: レイ、ライ

5 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
古典	こてん koten	classic (work, esp. book); the classics
典型	てんけい tenkei	type; pattern; model
辞典	じてん jiten	dictionary; lexicon
出典	しゅってん shutten	source (e.g. quotation); authority
特典	とくてん tokuten	privilege; special favor; special favour
式典	しきてん shikiten	ceremony; rites
失礼	しつれい shitsurei	discourtesy; impoliteness
礼儀	れいぎ reigi	manners; courtesy; etiquette

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.