Chinese symbol for “guard”
守
shǒu
to guard; to defend; to keep watch; to abide by the law
The closest CC-CEDICT match for guard is 守 (shǒu), defined as: to guard; to defend; to keep watch; to abide by the law; to observe (rules or ritual); nearby.
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 “guard”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 卫 (衛) | wèi | to guard; to protect |
| 守护 (守護) | shǒu hù | to guard; to protect |
| 守卫 (守衛) | shǒu wèi | to guard; to defend |
| 卫队 (衛隊) | wèi duì | guard (i.e. group of soldiers) |
| 看守 | kān shǒu | to guard; to watch over |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 守.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 遵守 | zūn shǒu | to comply with; to abide by; to respect (an agreement) |
| 保守 | bǎo shǒu | conservative; to guard |
| 守护 (守護) | shǒu hù | to guard; to protect |
| 防守 | fáng shǒu | to defend; to protect (against) |
| 坚守 (堅守) | jiān shǒu | to hold fast to; to stick to |
| 守卫 (守衛) | shǒu wèi | to guard; to defend |
See also: Japanese symbol for “guard”.
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.