King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “pray”

Romaji: inoru
to pray; to say a prayer; to say grace

In Japanese, pray is , read (inoru).

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. v5r, vt to pray; to say a prayer; to say grace
  2. v5r, vt to wish; to hope

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

pray, wish
on: キ
kun: いの.る
8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “pray”

WordReadingMeaning
どうぞ douzoplease; kindly; pray
こう kouto pray; to wish
まつる matsuruto pray; to worship
ねがう negauto beg; to request; to implore
ねんじる nenjiruto wish (for); to pray (for); to hope (for)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
いのり inoriprayer; supplication
きがん kiganprayer (for something); supplication
きとう kitouprayer; grace (at meals)
きねん kinenprayer
おいのり oinoriprayer; supplication

See also: Chinese symbol for “pray”.

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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