Chinese symbol for “backbone”
脊梁
jǐ liáng
backbone; spine; Taiwan pr. [ji3 liang5]
The closest CC-CEDICT match for backbone is 脊梁 (jǐ liáng), defined as: backbone; spine; Taiwan pr. [ji3 liang5].
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 “backbone”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 脊骨 | jǐ gǔ | backbone |
| 主心骨 | zhǔ xīn gǔ | backbone; mainstay |
| 脊梁骨 | jǐ liang gǔ | backbone |
| 脊 | jǐ | (bound form) spine; backbone; (bound form) ridge |
| 支柱 | zhī zhù | mainstay; pillar |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 脊梁.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 脊椎 | jǐ zhuī | vertebra; backbone |
| 脊髓 | jǐ suǐ | spinal cord; medulla spinalis |
| 脊椎动物 (脊椎動物) | jǐ zhuī dòng wù | vertebrate |
| 山脊 | shān jǐ | mountain ridge |
| 桥梁 (橋梁) | qiáo liáng | bridge (lit. and fig.) |
| 横梁 (橫梁) | héng liáng | beam |
| 鼻梁 | bí liáng | bridge of the nose |
| 栋梁 (棟梁) | dòng liáng | ridgepole; ridgepole and beams |
See also: Japanese symbol for “backbone”.
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.