Japanese symbol for “triage”

選別

せんべつ

Romaji: senbetsu

selection; sorting; culling; screening

In Japanese, triage is 選別, read せんべつ (senbetsu).

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, vs, vt selection; sorting; culling; screening; triage

Kanji and stroke order

選

elect, select, choose

on: セン
kun: えら.ぶ、え.る、よ.る

15 strokes · JLPT 2

別

separate, branch off, diverge

on: ベツ
kun: わか.れる、わ.ける

7 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “triage”

Word	Reading	Meaning
トリアージ	トリアージ toriaaji	triage

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
選手	せんしゅ senshu	player (of a sport); athlete; team member
選挙	せんきょ senkyo	election
選択	せんたく sentaku	choice; selection; option
選ぶ	えらぶ erabu	to choose; to select; to pick (out)
当選	とうせん tousen	being elected
予選	よせん yosen	preliminary contest; qualifying round; trial
特別	とくべつ tokubetsu	special; particular; extraordinary
別に	べつに betsuni	(not) particularly; (not) especially; (not) specially

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.