King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “primeval”

Romaji: gensei
primeval; primordial; primitive; pristine

In Japanese, primeval is , read (gensei).

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. adj-no, n primeval; primordial; primitive; pristine

Kanji and stroke order

meadow, original, primitive
on: ゲン
kun: はら
10 strokes · JLPT 2
life, genuine, birth
on: セイ、ショウ
kun: い.きる、い.かす、い.ける、う.まれる
5 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “primeval”

WordReadingMeaning
げんし genshiprimeval; primordial; primitive

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
げんいん gen'incause; origin; source
げんさく gensakuoriginal work
げんそく gensokuprinciple; general rule
げんしりょく genshiryokuatomic energy; nuclear power
げんり genriprinciple; theory; fundamental truth
げんこう genkoumanuscript; copy; draft
せいかつ seikatsulife; living
せんせい senseiteacher; instructor; master

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.