Chinese symbol for “grind”
研
yán
to grind; study; research
The closest CC-CEDICT match for grind is 研 (yán), defined as: to grind; study; research.
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 “grind”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 硐 | tóng | grind |
| 砺 (礪) | lì | grind; sandstone |
| 错 (錯) | cuò | mistake; wrong |
| 刷 | shuā | a brush; to paint; to daub |
| 切 | qiè | definitely; absolutely (not); (scoffing or dismissive interjection) Yeah, right.; Tut! |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 研.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 研究 | yán jiū | research; a study |
| 研发 (研發) | yán fā | research and development; to develop |
| 研究所 | yán jiū suǒ | research institute; graduate studies |
| 研究生 | yán jiū shēng | graduate student; postgraduate student |
| 科研 | kē yán | (scientific) research |
| 研制 (研製) | yán zhì | to research and manufacture; to research and to develop |
See also: Japanese symbol for “grind”.
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.