Chinese symbol for “competence”
功力
gōng lì
merit; efficacy; competence; skill
The closest CC-CEDICT match for competence is 功力 (gōng lì), defined as: merit; efficacy; competence; skill; power.
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 “competence”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 功力.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 成功 | chéng gōng | to succeed; success |
| 功能 | gōng néng | function; capability |
| 功夫 | gōng fu | skill; art |
| 功率 | gōng lǜ | power (rate of doing work, measured in watts) |
| 功效 | gōng xiào | efficacy |
| 功课 (功課) | gōng kè | homework; assignment |
| 能力 | néng lì | capability; ability |
| 努力 | nǔ lì | to make an effort; to try hard; to strive; hard-working; conscientious |
See also: Japanese symbol for “competence”.
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.