King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “transference”

Romaji: ten'i
moving (location, with the times, etc.); change; transition

In Japanese, transference is , read (ten'i).

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, vi, vs moving (location, with the times, etc.); change; transition
  2. n, vi, vs metastasis; spread (med)
  3. n, vi, vs transition (e.g. phase transition) (physics)
  4. n, vi, vs transfer (of learning)
  5. n, vi, vs transference (psyanal)

Kanji and stroke order

revolve, turn around, change
on: テン
kun: ころ.がる、ころ.げる、ころ.がす、ころ.ぶ
11 strokes · JLPT 3
shift, move, change
on: イ
kun: うつ.る、うつ.す
11 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
うんてん untenoperation (of a machine); running; working
じてんしゃ jitenshabicycle; bike
かいてん kaitenrotation; revolution; turn
いてん itenmoving; relocation; change of address
ぎゃくてん gyakutenreversal (of a situation); turnaround; turnabout
てんかん tenkanconversion; diversion; changeover
いどう idoumovement; transfer; migration
いしょく ishokutransplanting (a plant); transplant; grafting

See also: Chinese symbol for “transference”.

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.