Chinese symbol for “initiative”
主动权
zhǔ dòng quán
Traditional: 主動權
initiative (as in "seize the initiative"); advantageous position that allows one to call the shots
The closest CC-CEDICT match for initiative is 主动权 (zhǔ dòng quán), defined as: initiative (as in "seize the initiative"); advantageous position that allows one to call the shots.
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 “initiative”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 能动性 (能動性) | néng dòng xìng | initiative; active role |
| 倡议 (倡議) | chàng yì | to suggest; to initiate |
| 积极性 (積極性) | jī jí xìng | zeal; initiative |
| 进取心 (進取心) | jìn qǔ xīn | enterprising spirit; initiative |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 主动权.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 主要 | zhǔ yào | main; principal; major; primary |
| 民主 | mín zhǔ | democracy; democratic |
| 主席 | zhǔ xí | chairperson; premier |
| 主任 | zhǔ rèn | director; head |
| 主题 (主題) | zhǔ tí | theme; subject |
| 主张 (主張) | zhǔ zhāng | to advocate; to stand for |
| 活动 (活動) | huó dòng | to exercise; to move about; to work out; shaky; unsteady; loose (tooth etc) |
| 运动 (運動) | yùn dòng | to move; to exercise |
| 权利 (權利) | quán lì | right (i.e. an entitlement to sth); (classical) power and wealth |
See also: Japanese symbol for “initiative”.
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.