King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “provisional”

Romaji: zantei
provisional; temporary; tentative; interim

In Japanese, provisional is , read (zantei).

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 provisional; temporary; tentative; interim

Kanji and stroke order

temporarily, a while, moment
on: ザン
kun: しばら.く
15 strokes · JLPT 1
determine, fix, establish
on: テイ、ジョウ
kun: さだ.める、さだ.まる、さだ.か
8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “provisional”

WordReadingMeaning
りんじ rinjitemporary; provisional; interim
かり karitemporary; provisional; interim
しけんてき shikentekiexperimental; provisional
ざんていてき zanteitekiprovisional; temporary; tentative

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しばらく shibarakufor a moment; for a minute
しばし shibashifor a short while; for a brief period; soon
ざんじ zanjishort while
ざんていきょうてい zanteikyouteiprovisional agreement; modus vivendi
ざんていせいふ zanteiseifuinterim government; provisional government; caretaker government
よてい yoteiplans; arrangement; schedule
けってい ketteidecision; determination
せってい setteiestablishment; creation; posing (a problem)

See also: Chinese symbol for “provisional”.

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.