Chinese symbol for “caterpillar”
毛毛虫
máo mao chóng
Traditional: 毛毛蟲
caterpillar
The closest CC-CEDICT match for caterpillar is 毛毛虫 (máo mao chóng), defined as: caterpillar.
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 “caterpillar”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毛虫 (毛蟲) | máo chóng | caterpillar |
| 蠋 | zhú | caterpillar |
| 蛅 | rán | a caterpillar |
| 蛓 | cì | (literary) caterpillar |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 毛毛虫.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毛病 | máo bìng | fault; defect |
| 毛巾 | máo jīn | towel; 条 (tiáo) |
| 羽毛 | yǔ máo | feather; plumage |
| 毛利 | máo lì | gross profit |
| 羊毛 | yáng máo | wool; fleece |
| 眉毛 | méi mao | eyebrow; measure word: 根 (gēn) |
| 昆虫 (昆蟲) | kūn chóng | insect; 只 (zhī),群 (qún),堆 (duī) |
| 杀虫剂 (殺蟲劑) | shā chóng jì | insecticide; pesticide |
See also: Japanese symbol for “caterpillar”.
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.