King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “maxim”

Romaji: ku
section (i.e. of text); sentence; passage; paragraph

In Japanese, maxim is , read (ku).

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, n-suf section (i.e. of text); sentence; passage; paragraph
  2. n, n-suf phrase (ling)
  3. n, n-suf verse (of 5 or 7 mora in Japanese poetry; of 4, 5, or 7 characters in Chinese poetry)
  4. n, n-suf haiku; first 17 morae of a renga, etc.
  5. n, n-suf maxim; saying; idiom; expression
  6. n, n-suf clause (e.g. in a database query language) (comp)

Kanji and stroke order

phrase, clause, sentence
on: ク
5 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “maxim”

WordReadingMeaning
かくげん kakugensaying; maxim; aphorism
ことわざ kotowazaproverb; saying; aphorism
こうり kourimaxim; self-evident truth; axiom
マキシム makishimumaxim
かくりつ kakuritsumaxim; personal standard

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
もんく monkucomplaint; grumbling; objection
はいく haikuhaiku; 17-mora poem, usu. in 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 morae
ごく gokuwords and phrases; words
せっく sekkuseasonal festival
ぜっく zekkubeing lost for words; becoming speechless
あげく agekuafter (a long process); at the end of

See also: Chinese symbol for “maxim”.

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.