Chinese symbol for “foreign”
The closest CC-CEDICT match for foreign is 番 (fān), defined as: (bound form) foreign (non-Chinese); barbarian; classifier for processes or actions that take time and effort; (classifier) a kind; a sort; (classifier) (used after the verb 翻 (fān) to indicate how many times a quantity doubles, as in 翻一番 (fān yī fān) "to double").
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 “foreign”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 外籍 | wài jí | foreign (i.e. of foreign nationality) |
| 外 | wài | outside; in addition |
| 国外 (國外) | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 对外 (對外) | duì wài | external; foreign |
| 外来 (外來) | wài lái | external; foreign |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 番.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 番茄 | fān qié | tomato |
| 番号 (番號) | fān hào | number of military unit |
| 轮番 (輪番) | lún fān | in turn; one after another |
| 番茄酱 (番茄醬) | fān qié jiàng | ketchup; tomato sauce |
| 翻番 | fān fān | to double; to increase by a certain number of times |
| 番薯 | fān shǔ | (dialect) sweet potato; yam |
See also: Japanese symbol for “foreign”.
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.