Japanese symbol for “prosthetic”

補綴

ほてつ

Romaji: hotetsu

mending; revision; supplementation

In Japanese, prosthetic is 補綴, read ほてつ (hotetsu).

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

adj-no, n, vs mending; revision; supplementation
adj-no, n, vs (dental) prosthesis; prosthetic

Written forms: 補綴. Readings: ほてつ、ほてい.

Kanji and stroke order

補

supplement, supply, make good

on: ホ
kun: おぎな.う

12 strokes · JLPT 2

綴

compose, spell, write

on: テイ、テツ、テチ、ゲツ
kun: と.じる、つづ.る、つづり、すみ.やか

14 strokes

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
候補	こうほ kouho	candidate; contender; prospect
補助	ほじょ hojo	assistance; support; help
補給	ほきゅう hokyuu	supply; supplying; replenishment
補償	ほしょう hoshou	compensation; reparation
立候補	りっこうほ rikkouho	candidacy; standing as a candidate; bidding (to host an event, e.g. the Olympics)
補佐	ほさ hosa	aid; help; assistance
綴り	つづり tsuzuri	spelling; orthography
綴る	つづる tsuzuru	to spell

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.