King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “lye”

Romaji: aku
lye

In Japanese, lye is , read (aku).

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. n lye
  2. n harsh taste; bitter taste; alkaline taste; astringency
  3. n scum (on a soup, broth etc.)
  4. n (excessive) self-assertiveness; strong individuality; strong idiosyncrasy

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

ashes, puckery juice, cremate
on: カイ
kun: はい
6 strokes · JLPT 2
soup, juice, broth
on: ジュウ
kun: しる、-しる、つゆ
5 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “lye”

WordReadingMeaning
かせいアルカリ kaseiarukaricaustic alkali; lye

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
はいいろ haiirogrey; gray; ashen
はいざら haizaraashtray
かざんばい kazanbaivolcanic ash
せっかい sekkailime; quicklime; caustic lime
せっかいがん sekkaiganlimestone
しのはい shinohailethal radioactive fallout; atomic dust
かじゅう kajuufruit juice
みそしる misoshirumiso soup

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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