Chinese symbol for “external”
对外
duì wài
Traditional: 對外
external; foreign; pertaining to external or foreign (affairs)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for external is 对外 (duì wài), defined as: external; foreign; pertaining to external or foreign (affairs).
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 “external”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 外来 (外來) | wài lái | external; foreign |
| 外表 | wài biǎo | external; outside |
| 外部 | wài bù | the outside; (attributive) external; exterior; surface |
| 外用 | wài yòng | external |
| 外 | wài | outside; in addition |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 对外.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 对于 (對於) | duì yú | regarding; as far as (sth) is concerned; with regard to |
| 反对 (反對) | fǎn duì | to oppose; to be against; to object to |
| 绝对 (絕對) | jué duì | absolute; unconditional |
| 针对 (針對) | zhēn duì | to target; to focus on; to be aimed at or against; in response to |
| 面对 (面對) | miàn duì | to face; to confront |
| 相对 (相對) | xiāng duì | relatively; opposite |
| 另外 | lìng wài | additional; in addition |
| 此外 | cǐ wài | besides; in addition; moreover; furthermore |
See also: Japanese symbol for “external”.
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.