点々(てんてん)

てんてん

adverb

here and there; dotted about

See also: 転々(てんてん) (from place to place)

1. here and there; scattered; dotted about

Describing things scattered in dots across a space.

Flowers are blooming here and there across the field.

Scattered distribution

Blood traces were dotted along the path.

Sequential scattered pattern

Islands are scattered about (on the sea).

Describing archipelago

点々(てんてん) is a reduplication of 点(てん) (point; dot), describing things distributed in a scattered, dot-like pattern.

This word evokes a visual of dots scattered across a surface, like stars in the sky, islands in the sea, or flowers in a meadow.

転々(てんてん) - has the same reading but different meaning (moving from place to place). See separate entry.

Related Words

Compare: ぽつぽつ (sparsely)

general

Added 2026.1.13 16:20 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

03500/03974_tenten