Chinese symbol for “holy”
圣
shèng
Traditional: 聖
(bound form) peerless (in wisdom, moral virtue, skill etc); (bound form) peerless individual; paragon (sage, saint, emperor, master of a skill etc); (bound form) holy; sacred
The closest CC-CEDICT match for holy is 圣 (shèng), defined as: (bound form) peerless (in wisdom, moral virtue, skill etc); (bound form) peerless individual; paragon (sage, saint, emperor, master of a skill etc); (bound form) holy; sacred.
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 “holy”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 圣.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 神圣 (神聖) | shén shèng | divine; hallow |
| 圣人 (聖人) | shèng rén | sage; the Sage (i.e. Confucius) |
| 圣母 (聖母) | shèng mǔ | goddess |
| 圣地 (聖地) | shèng dì | holy land (of a religion); sacred place |
| 圣殿 (聖殿) | shèng diàn | temple |
| 圣战 (聖戰) | shèng zhàn | Holy war; jihad |
See also: Japanese symbol for “holy”.
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.
Last posts
- Buying Chanbara Swords for Sparring and Competition
- What Size Shinai Does a Child Need for Kendo Practice
- Best Polypropylene Bokken for Hard Contact Training
- Best Foam Swords for Kids Martial Arts and Safe Practice
- Are Cold Steel Training Swords Good for Practice
- Shinai Maintenance and Essential Tools for Bamboo Care
- Best Shinai for Kendo Beginners Choosing Your First Sword
- Choosing the Best Bokken for Kendo Kata
- Using a Tsuba on Your Bokken for Partner Practice
- How Much Should You Spend on a Wooden Practice Sword