Japanese symbol for “stipend”
禄
ろく
Romaji: roku
stipend (paid to court officials, samurai, etc.); salary; fief; feudal pay
In Japanese, stipend is 禄, read ろく (roku).
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 stipend (paid to court officials, samurai, etc.); salary; fief; feudal pay
- n gift (given as a reward); token of appreciation
Written forms: 禄、祿. Readings: ろく.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “stipend”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奨学金 | しょうがくきん shougakukin | scholarship; stipend; bursary |
| 扶持 | ふち fuchi | salary (paid in rice to a samurai); stipend |
| 禄高 | ろくだか rokudaka | (amount of a samurai's) stipend |
| 食俸 | しょくほう shokuhou | stipend (usu. paid in kind); salary |
| 石高 | こくだか kokudaka | stipend (orig. assessed on the basis of a crop); salary |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 元禄 | げんろく genroku | Genroku era (1688.9.30-1704.3.13) |
| 貫禄 | かんろく kanroku | presence; dignity |
| 小禄 | しょうろく shouroku | small stipend |
| 俸禄 | ほうろく houroku | retainer's stipend; official pay; salary |
| 長禄 | ちょうろく chouroku | Chōroku era (1457.9.28-1460.12.21) |
| 余禄 | よろく yoroku | additional gain |
See also: Chinese symbol for “stipend”.
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.