King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “maternity”

Romaji: bosei
motherhood; maternity

In Japanese, maternity is , read (bosei).

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 motherhood; maternity

Kanji and stroke order

mother
on: ボ
kun: はは、も
5 strokes · JLPT 4
sex, gender, nature
on: セイ、ショウ
kun: さが
8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “maternity”

WordReadingMeaning
マタニティ matanitimaternity (motherhood)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ははおや hahaoyamother
おかあさん okaasanmother; mom; mum
そぼ sobograndmother
おば obaaunt
ふぼ fubofather and mother; parents
かあさん kaasanmother
じょせい joseiwoman; female
だんせい danseiman; male

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.