Chinese symbol for “borrow”
借
jiè
to borrow; (used in combination with 给 (gěi) or 出 (chū) etc) to lend; to make use of; to avail oneself of; (sometimes followed by 着 (zhe)) by; with
The closest CC-CEDICT match for borrow is 借 (jiè), defined as: to borrow; (used in combination with 给 (gěi) or 出 (chū) etc) to lend; to make use of; to avail oneself of; (sometimes followed by 着 (zhe)) by; with.
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 “borrow”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 假 | jiǎ | fake; false |
| 借取 | jiè qǔ | to borrow |
| 贷 (貸) | dài | to lend on interest; to borrow |
| 贳 (貰) | shì | to borrow; to buy on credit |
| 套用 | tào yòng | to apply (sth hitherto used in a different context); to use (rules, systems, models etc copied from elsewhere) (often implying that they aren't suited to the new situation) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 借.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 借口 | jiè kǒu | to use as an excuse; excuse; pretext |
| 凭借 (憑借) | píng jiè | to rely on; to depend on |
| 借款 | jiè kuǎn | to lend money; to borrow money |
| 借助 | jiè zhù | to draw support from; with the help of |
| 借鉴 (借鑒) | jiè jiàn | to draw on (others' experience); to learn from (how others do things) |
| 借贷 (借貸) | jiè dài | to borrow or lend money; debit and credit items on a balance sheet |
See also: Japanese symbol for “borrow”.
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.