King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “telling”

Romaji: tsutae
conveying (an intention, meaning, etc.); communicating; getting across; telling

In Japanese, telling is , read (tsutae).

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 conveying (an intention, meaning, etc.); communicating; getting across; telling; transmitting
  2. n (verbal) message; word (from someone)
  3. n tradition; folklore; legend

Kanji and stroke order

transmit, go along, walk along
on: デン、テン
kun: つた.わる、つた.える、つた.う、つだ.う
6 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “telling”

WordReadingMeaning
はっしん hasshininforming (e.g. of opinion); sharing (thoughts, etc.); telling
つげぐち tsugeguchitelling (on someone); tattling; snitching
ごんじょう gonjoutelling; stating
こうがい kougairevealing (information, a secret, etc.); disclosure; telling
いみありげ imiarigemeaningful; suggestive; telling

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
でんとう dentoutradition; convention
せんでん sendenpublicity; advertisement; advertising
でんせつ densetsulegend; folklore; tradition
てつだい tetsudaihelper; assistant
いでん idenheredity; (genetic) inheritance
いでんし idenshigene

See also: Chinese symbol for “telling”.

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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