godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
spell; write out letter by letter
Used for spelling a word or name by arranging its letters or characters in order. Often appears with ローマ字, 英語, or a quoted word.
「dictionary」はどう綴りますか。
How do you spell "dictionary"?
名前をローマ字で綴ってください。
Please spell your name in roman letters.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
write; compose; put into words
Means to write or compose by choosing and arranging words, especially for letters, essays, memories, feelings, or prose. It is more expressive and literary than the very general 書く, and can include the idea of framing wording carefully.
祖母は旅先での出来事を手紙に綴った。
My grandmother wrote about what happened on her trip in a letter.
彼女は感謝の気持ちを短い文章に綴った。
She put her feelings of gratitude into a short piece of writing.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
bind; file together
Physical use for gathering and fastening papers or documents together. In everyday modern Japanese, 綴じる is also very common for this action, but 綴る is attested and understandable in document-handling contexts.
会議の資料を日付順に綴る。
Bind the meeting materials in date order.
godan verb (-ru), transitive verb
stitch together; sew together; patch
Less common physical use for joining or mending pieces of cloth or similar material by stitching. Modern Japanese often uses 縫い合わせる or 繕う depending on the situation.
布切れを綴って小さな袋を作った。
I stitched scraps of cloth together to make a small bag.