Chinese symbol for “hitherto”
尔来
ěr lái
Traditional: 爾來
(literary) recently; lately; hitherto
The closest CC-CEDICT match for hitherto is 尔来 (ěr lái), defined as: (literary) recently; lately; hitherto.
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
Related words
Other words that share a character with 尔来.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 偶尔 (偶爾) | ǒu ěr | occasionally; once in a while |
| 摩尔 (摩爾) | mó ěr | mole (chemistry) |
| 高尔夫 (高爾夫) | gāo ěr fū | (loanword) golf |
| 高尔夫球 (高爾夫球) | gāo ěr fū qiú | golf; golf ball |
| 荷尔蒙 (荷爾蒙) | hé ěr méng | (loanword) hormone |
| 尔后 (爾後) | ěr hòu | henceforth; thereafter |
| 起来 (起來) | qǐ lai | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 出来 (出來) | chū lái | to come out; to appear |
See also: Japanese symbol for “hitherto”.
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.