Japanese symbol for “lop”
斬る
きる
Romaji: kiru
to kill (a human) using a blade (sword, machete, knife, etc.); to slice (off); to lop (off); to cut (off)
In Japanese, lop is 斬る, read きる (kiru).
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
- v5r, vt to kill (a human) using a blade (sword, machete, knife, etc.); to slice (off); to lop (off); to cut (off)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “lop”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 切り枝 | きりえだ kirieda | cuttings; lop; spray |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 斬新 | ざんしん zanshin | novel; original; new |
| 斬首 | ざんしゅ zanshu | decapitation |
| 辻斬り | つじぎり tsujigiri | attacking a passerby with a sword (to test its sharpness or one's skill); samurai who tries out his sword on a passerby |
| 斬殺 | ざんさつ zansatsu | killing with a sword (knife, dagger, etc.); slaying; putting to the sword |
| 試し斬り | ためしぎり tameshigiri | trying out a new sword or blade (originally on someone, but now on soaked straw targets) |
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.