Japanese symbol for “onion”
玉ねぎ
たまねぎ
Romaji: tamanegi
onion (Allium cepa)
In Japanese, onion is 玉ねぎ, read たまねぎ (tamanegi).
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
- n onion (Allium cepa)
Written forms: 玉ねぎ、玉葱、葱頭、玉ネギ. Readings: たまねぎ、タマネギ.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “onion”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| オニオン | オニオン onion | onion (Allium cepa) |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 目玉 | めだま medama | eyeball |
| お年玉 | おとしだま otoshidama | New Year's gift (usu. money given to a child by relatives and visitors) |
| 埼玉 | さいたま saitama | Saitama (city, prefecture) |
| 替え玉 | かえだま kaedama | stand-in; proxy; substitute |
| 水玉 | みずたま mizutama | drop of water |
| 玉砕 | ぎょくさい gyokusai | honorable death; death without surrender; honorable defeat |
See also: Chinese symbol for “onion”.
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.