Kanji Detail for 曽 - "once"

曽

Jōyō Kanji

Meaning

曽 means "once." Also associated with to layer, to increase.
1. Once - Previously; formerly; in the past.
2. To layer - To pile up; to accumulate repeatedly.
3. To increase - To grow; to multiply.
4. An exclamatory particle - Expressing surprise or emphasis.
Tattoo check: 曽
- Verified meaning: once
- Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
- Used in real Japanese given names (read そ, そう, そさき, たかそ)
- Also carries these associations: to layer, to increase
A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.
Name readings of 曽

Surnames 曽(そ) 曽(そう) 曽(そさき) 曽(たかそ) 曽(ちえん) 曽(ちゆん)
Dictionary Citations

The meaning above is based on the following sources:

KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

formerly; once; before; ever; never; ex-

Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

already; sign of past

CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

Japanese variant of 曾[ceng2]
Onyomi

so(ソ)

soh(ソウ)

zoh(ゾウ)
Kunyomi

katsu(か-つ)

katsu.te(かつ-て)

sunawa.chi(すなわ-ち)
Strokes

11 strokes
Radical

曰 (iwaku・hirabi)
Related Keywords

once to layer to increase formerly multiple layers ancestor before ever bygone earlier erstwhile exclamation forebear past previous accumulate

曽根崎には心中が多いと聞きました。
I heard there were many double suicides in Sonezaki.
木曽川はしばしば日本のライン川と呼ばれている。
The Kiso River is often called the Rhine of Japan.
父の父は祖父、祖父の父は曽祖父、曽祖父の父は高祖父だが、高祖父より前の世代の呼称は決まっていない。
The father of a father is a grandfather, a grandfather's father is a great-grandfather, a great-grandfather's father is a great-great-grandfather, but no word has been decided upon for the generations before great-great-grandfather.