King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “pronounce”

Romaji: yomu
to read

In Japanese, pronounce is , read (yomu).

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. v5m, vt to read
  2. v5m, vt to recite (e.g. a sutra); to chant
  3. v5m, vt to predict; to guess; to forecast; to read (someone's thoughts); to see (e.g. into someone's heart); to divine
  4. v5m, vt to pronounce; to read (e.g. a kanji)
  5. v5m, vt to decipher; to read (a meter, graph, music, etc.); to tell (the time)
  6. v5m, vt to count; to estimate

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

read
on: ドク、トク、トウ
kun: よ.む、-よ.み
14 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
よみ yomireading
どくしゃ dokushareader
どくしょ dokushoreading (books)
ろうどく roudokureading aloud; recitation
よみかた yomikatapronunciation; reading (e.g. of a kanji)

See also: Chinese symbol for “pronounce”.

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.