Chinese symbol for “case”
案
àn
(legal) case; incident; record; file
The closest CC-CEDICT match for case is 案 (àn), defined as: (legal) case; incident; record; file; table.
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 “case”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 案件 | àn jiàn | case; instance |
| 例子 | lì zi | case; (for) instance |
| 案例 | àn lì | case (of fraud, hepatitis, international cooperation etc); instance; example |
| 病例 | bìng lì | (medical) case; occurrence of illness |
| 盒子 | hé zi | box; case; hezi – a savory turnover-like pie in northern Chinese and Mongolian cuisines |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 案.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 方案 | fāng àn | plan; program (for action etc) |
| 案件 | àn jiàn | case; instance |
| 答案 | dá àn | answer; solution |
| 档案 (檔案) | dàng àn | file; record; archive |
| 法案 | fǎ àn | bill; proposed law |
| 案例 | àn lì | case (of fraud, hepatitis, international cooperation etc); instance; example |
See also: Japanese symbol for “case”.
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.