King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “raise”

Romaji: okosu
to raise; to raise up; to set up; to pick up

In Japanese, raise is , read (okosu).

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 raise; to raise up; to set up; to pick up; to stand (something) up
  2. v5s, vt to wake; to wake up; to waken; to awaken
  3. v5s, vt to cause; to bring about; to lead to; to trigger; to give rise to; to create
  4. v5s, vt to start; to begin; to launch; to establish; to found; to set up
  5. v5s, vt to plough; to plow; to till
  6. v5s, vt to feel (an emotion, desire, etc.); to be moved to; to summon up; to muster

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

rouse, wake up, get up
on: キ
kun: お.きる、お.こる、お.こす、おこ.す
10 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “raise”

WordReadingMeaning
たかめる takameruto raise; to lift; to boost
つくる tsukuruto raise; to grow; to cultivate
あげる ageruto raise; to elevate
うったえる uttaeruto raise; to bring to (someone's attention)
かかげる kakageruto put up (a notice, sign, etc.); to hang out (e.g. a banner); to fly (e.g. a flag)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きそ kisoprosecution; indictment
おこる okoruto occur; to happen
おきる okiruto get up; to rise; to blaze up (fire)
きげん kigenorigin; beginning; source
ていき teikiraising (a question); posing (a problem); bringing up (an issue)

See also: Chinese symbol for “raise”.

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.

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