King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “proceed”

Romaji: osu
to push; to thrust; to shove

In Japanese, proceed is , read (osu).

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. v5s, vt to push; to thrust; to shove
  2. v5s, vt to press (down); to push (e.g. a button); to exert pressure on
  3. v5s, vt to stamp (e.g. one's name); to affix (a seal)
  4. v5s, vt to affix (e.g. gold leaf)
  5. v5s, vt to push (someone for something); to press; to put pressure on (someone)
  6. v5s, vt to overwhelm; to overpower; to put (someone) under pressure; to be superior to

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

push, stop, check
on: オウ
kun: お.す、お.し-、お.っ-、お.さえる
8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “proceed”

WordReadingMeaning
はこぶ hakobuto go (well, etc.); to proceed; to progress
いく ikuto go (well, badly, etc.); to proceed; to turn out
ことをはこぶ kotoohakobuto go ahead; to proceed; to carry on
さきをつづける sakiotsuzukeruto continue; to proceed

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
おし oshipush; pushing
おさえる osaeruto pin down; to hold down; to press down
あとおし atooshipushing; support; backing
おしだし oshidashipushing something out; extrusion
おうしゅう oushuuseizure; confiscation

See also: Chinese symbol for “proceed”.

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.