黥げい

also: いれずみ

げ

い

Meanings

1

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Rare kanji form for 入れ墨/刺青. Refers to tattooing, especially traditional Japanese tattoos. The reading げい is uncommon; the gikun reading いれずみ is the usual word.

Written forms

黥
- げい
  Rare kanji for 'tattoo'; the reading げい is uncommon. The word is normally written as 入れ墨 or 刺青.
- いれずみ
  gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
いれずみ
gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Kana spelling for the gikun reading いれずみ, which is the common word for tattoo. This reading is normally written with other kanji.

Kanji

黥tatooing

Similar words

入いれ墨ずみ
The standard word for tattoo, commonly written in kanji or kana. 黥 is a rare alternative kanji for the same meaning.
刺し青せい
Another common kanji form for tattoo, often used for artistic or traditional Japanese tattoos. 黥 is much rarer.

Etymology

The kanji 黥 is a classical Chinese character for tattooing as a punishment. Its use in Japanese is rare and largely replaced by 入れ墨 or 刺青.