Japanese symbol for “treading”

交尾

こうび

Romaji: koubi

copulation (among animals); mating; treading; covering

In Japanese, treading is 交尾, read こうび (koubi).

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, vi, vs copulation (among animals); mating; treading; covering; serving

Kanji and stroke order

交

mingle, mixing, association

on: コウ
kun: まじ.わる、まじ.える、ま.じる、まじ.る

6 strokes · JLPT 2

尾

tail, end, counter for fish

on: ビ
kun: お

7 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
交換	こうかん koukan	exchange; interchange; switching
交通	こうつう koutsuu	traffic; transportation
交渉	こうしょう koushou	negotiations; bargaining; discussions
交流	こうりゅう kouryuu	exchange (e.g. cultural); interchange; interaction
外交	がいこう gaikou	diplomacy
交代	こうたい koutai	change; alternation; rotation
末尾	まつび matsubi	end (e.g. of report, document, paragraph, etc.)
尾根	おね one	(mountain) ridge

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.