King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “marinate”

Romaji: shimeru
to tie; to fasten; to tighten

In Japanese, marinate is , read (shimeru).

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. v1, vt to tie; to fasten; to tighten
  2. v1, vt to wear (necktie, belt); to put on
  3. v1, vt to total; to sum
  4. v1, vt to be strict with
  5. v1, vt to economize; to economise; to cut down on
  6. v1, vt to salt; to marinate; to pickle; to make sushi adding a mixture of vinegar and salt

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

tighten, tie, shut
on: テイ
kun: し.まる、し.まり、し.める、-し.め
15 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
とりしまりやく torishimariyakucompany director; board member
しめきり shimekirideadline; closing; cut-off
ひきしめ hikishimetightening
ていけつ teiketsuconclusion; execution (of a contract); entering (into treaty)
しめ shimetying up; binding; fastening

See also: Chinese symbol for “marinate”.

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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