King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “starling”

Romaji: mizukiri
straining; draining

In Japanese, starling is , read (mizukiri).

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. n, vs, vt straining; draining
  2. n drainer; strainer; colander
  3. n cutwater (of a ship); forefoot; drip (on a building); flashing; throating; starling (of a bridge)
  4. n stone skipping; stone skimming; skipping stones; ducks and drakes
  5. n, vs, vt cutting a flower stem under water (to prolong its life)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

water
on: スイ
kun: みず、みず-
4 strokes · JLPT 4
cut, cutoff, be sharp
on: セツ、サイ
kun: き.る、-き.る、き.り、-き.り
4 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “starling”

WordReadingMeaning
むくどり mukudoristarling (any bird of family Sturnidae)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
みずぎ mizugibathing suit; swimsuit; swimmers
すいじゅん suijunlevel; standard
すいどう suidouwater supply; water service; waterworks
すいそ suisohydrogen (H)
すいぶん suibunwater; liquid; fluid
すいえい suieiswimming
たいせつ taisetsuimportant; significant; serious
いっさい issaiall; everything; entirety

See also: Chinese symbol for “starling”.

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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