Chinese symbol for “consciousness”
意识
yì shí
Traditional: 意識
consciousness; awareness; (usu. followed by 到 (dào)) to be aware of; to realize
The closest CC-CEDICT match for consciousness is 意识 (yì shí), defined as: consciousness; awareness; (usu. followed by 到 (dào)) to be aware of; to realize.
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 “consciousness”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 神志 | shén zhì | consciousness; state of mind |
| 精神 | jīng shén | spirit; mind |
| 思想意识 (思想意識) | sī xiǎng yì shí | consciousness |
| 觉悟 (覺悟) | jué wù | to come to understand; to realize |
| 知觉 (知覺) | zhī jué | perception; consciousness |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 意识.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 注意 | zhù yì | to take note of; to pay attention to |
| 意见 (意見) | yì jiàn | idea; opinion |
| 意思 | yì si | idea; opinion |
| 意义 (意義) | yì yì | sense; meaning |
| 愿意 (願意) | yuàn yì | to wish; to want |
| 同意 | tóng yì | to agree; to consent |
| 认识 (認識) | rèn shi | to know; to recognize |
| 知识 (知識) | zhī shi | knowledge; 门 (mén) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “consciousness”.
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.