Chinese symbol for “breath”
气息
qì xī
Traditional: 氣息
breath; smell; odor; flavor
The closest CC-CEDICT match for breath is 气息 (qì xī), defined as: breath; smell; odor; flavor.
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
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “breath”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 息 | xī | (bound form) breath; (bound form) to cease; to stop |
| 鼻息 | bí xī | breath |
| 气流 (氣流) | qì liú | stream of air; airflow |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 气息.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 天气 (天氣) | tiān qì | weather |
| 空气 (空氣) | kōng qì | air; atmosphere |
| 气候 (氣候) | qì hòu | (meteorology) climate; (fig.) climate; prevailing conditions (in human affairs) |
| 生气 (生氣) | shēng qì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 勇气 (勇氣) | yǒng qì | courage |
| 气氛 (氣氛) | qì fēn | atmosphere; mood |
| 信息 | xìn xī | information; news; message |
| 消息 | xiāo xi | (piece of) news; information; message |
See also: Japanese symbol for “breath”.
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.