Japanese symbol for “stratum”
地層
ちそう
Romaji: chisou
stratum; geological formation; layer; bed (coal, gravel, etc.)
In Japanese, stratum is 地層, read ちそう (chisou).
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 stratum; geological formation; layer; bed (coal, gravel, etc.)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “stratum”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 階層 | かいそう kaisou | class; level; stratum |
| 層 | そう sou | layer; stratum; seam |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 地域 | ちいき chiiki | area; region; district |
| 地球 | ちきゅう chikyuu | Earth; the globe |
| 地方 | ちほう chihou | district; region; area |
| 地元 | じもと jimoto | home area; home town |
| 地震 | じしん jishin | earthquake |
| 土地 | とち tochi | plot of land; lot; soil |
| 一層 | いっそう issou | even more; still more; all the more |
| 高層 | こうそう kousou | high-rise (building); multistory; multistoried |
See also: Chinese symbol for “stratum”.
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.