Japanese symbol for “songbirds”

鳴禽類

めいきんるい

Romaji: meikinrui

oscines (birds of suborder Oscines); songbirds

In Japanese, songbirds is 鳴禽類, read めいきんるい (meikinrui).

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

n oscines (birds of suborder Oscines); songbirds

Kanji and stroke order

鳴

chirp, cry, bark

on: メイ
kun: な.く、な.る、な.らす

14 strokes · JLPT 2

禽

bird, captive, capture

on: キン
kun: とり、とりこ

13 strokes

類

sort, kind, variety

on: ルイ
kun: たぐ.い

18 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
悲鳴	ひめい himei	shriek; scream
鳴る	なる naru	to sound; to ring; to resound
鳴り	なり nari	ringing; sound
鳴き声	なきごえ nakigoe	cry (of an animal); call; chirp
鳴らす	ならす narasu	to ring; to sound; to chime
怒鳴る	どなる donaru	to shout (in anger); to yell
猛禽	もうきん moukin	raptor; bird of prey; predatory bird
家禽	かきん kakin	(domestic) fowl; poultry
種類	しゅるい shurui	variety; kind; type

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.