Chinese symbol for “explain”
说明
shuō míng
Traditional: 說明
to explain; to illustrate; to indicate; to show
The closest CC-CEDICT match for explain is 说明 (shuō míng), defined as: to explain; to illustrate; to indicate; to show; to prove; explanation.
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 “explain”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 释 (釋) | shì | to explain; to release |
| 解说 (解說) | jiě shuō | to explain (verbally); to give a running commentary |
| 讲解 (講解) | jiǎng jiě | to explain |
| 说 (說) | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say; to explain; to comment |
| 辩解 (辯解) | biàn jiě | to explain; to justify |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 说明.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小说 (小說) | xiǎo shuō | novel; fiction |
| 说话 (說話) | shuō huà | to speak; to say |
| 听说 (聽說) | tīng shuō | to hear (sth said); one hears (that) |
| 说法 (說法) | shuō fǎ | to expound Buddhist teachings |
| 证明 (證明) | zhèng míng | proof; certificate |
| 明白 | míng bai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable |
| 明显 (明顯) | míng xiǎn | clear; distinct |
| 明天 | míng tiān | tomorrow |
See also: Japanese symbol for “explain”.
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.