King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “altruism”

利他主义
lì tā zhǔ yì
Traditional: 利他主義
altruism

The closest CC-CEDICT match for altruism is 利他主义 (lì tā zhǔ yì), defined as: altruism.

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.

Characters and stroke order

利 lì
gains, advantage, profit, merit
radical 18 ⼑ · 7 strokes
他 tā
other, another; he, she, it
radical 9 ⼈ · 5 strokes
主 zhǔ
to own; to host; master; host; lord
radical 3 ⼂ · 5 strokes
义 yì
right conduct, propriety; justice
radical 3 ⼂ · 3 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “altruism”

WordPinyinMeaning
忘我wàng wǒselflessness; altruism
利他lì tāto benefit others; altruism
舍己为人 (捨己為人)shě jǐ wèi rénto abandon self for others (idiom, from Analects); to sacrifice one's own interest for other people; altruism
舍己 (捨己)shě jǐselfless; self-sacrifice (to help others)
舍己救人 (捨己救人)shě jǐ jiù rénto abandon self for others (idiom); to sacrifice oneself to help the people; altruism

Related words

Other words that share a character with 利他主义.

WordPinyinMeaning
利用lì yòngto exploit; to make use of
权利 (權利)quán lìright (i.e. an entitlement to sth); (classical) power and wealth
利益lì yìbenefit; (in sb's) interest
胜利 (勝利)shèng lìvictory; 个 (gè)
福利fú lìbenefit (provided by an employer or organization); (social) welfare
顺利 (順利)shùn lìsmoothly; without a hitch
他们 (他們)tā menthey; them
其他qí tāother; (sth or sb) else
主要zhǔ yàomain; principal; major; primary
意义 (意義)yì yìsense; meaning

See also: Japanese symbol for “altruism”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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