Chinese symbol for “cause”
因
yīn
cause; reason; because
The closest CC-CEDICT match for cause is 因 (yīn), defined as: cause; reason; because.
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 “cause”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 原因 | yuán yīn | cause; origin |
| 致使 | zhì shǐ | to cause; to result in |
| 缘 (緣) | yuán | cause; reason |
| 造成 | zào chéng | to bring about; to create; to cause |
| 导致 (導致) | dǎo zhì | to lead to; to create; to cause; to bring about |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 因.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 因为 (因為) | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 因此 | yīn cǐ | thus; consequently; as a result |
| 原因 | yuán yīn | cause; origin |
| 因素 | yīn sù | element; factor |
| 因而 | yīn ér | therefore; as a result |
| 基因 | jī yīn | gene (loanword) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “cause”.
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.