Chinese symbol for “apprentice”
徒弟
tú dì
apprentice; disciple
The closest CC-CEDICT match for apprentice is 徒弟 (tú dì), defined as: apprentice; disciple.
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
Other Chinese words for “apprentice”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 学徒 (學徒) | xué tú | apprentice; to serve an apprenticeship |
| 徒 | tú | (bound form) disciple; apprentice; believer; (derog.) wrongdoer (as in 骗徒 (piàn tú) "swindler" or 叛徒 (pàn tú) "traitor" etc); (bound form) on foot |
| 徒工 | tú gōng | apprentice; trainee worker |
| 练习生 (練習生) | liàn xí shēng | (dated, except in Taiwan) trainee; apprentice; probationary employee; (entertainment) trainee performer undergoing systematic training prior to debut (esp. in idol groups) |
| 徒儿 (徒兒) | tú ér | disciple; apprentice |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 徒弟.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 信徒 | xìn tú | believer |
| 教徒 | jiào tú | disciple; follower of a religion |
| 徒刑 | tú xíng | prison sentence |
| 有期徒刑 | yǒu qī tú xíng | limited term of imprisonment (i.e. anything less than life imprisonment) |
| 叛徒 | pàn tú | traitor; turncoat |
| 兄弟 | xiōng dì | brothers; younger brother |
| 弟弟 | dì di | younger brother; 个 (gè),位 (wèi) |
| 弟子 | dì zǐ | disciple; follower |
See also: Japanese symbol for “apprentice”.
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.