Chinese symbol for “inside”
内
nèi
Traditional: 內
inside; inner; internal; within
The closest CC-CEDICT match for inside is 内 (nèi), defined as: inside; inner; internal; within; interior.
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 “inside”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 里面 (裡面) | lǐ miàn | inside; interior |
| 之中 | zhī zhōng | inside; among |
| 之内 (之內) | zhī nèi | inside; within |
| 里头 (裡頭) | lǐ tou | inside; interior |
| 里边 (裡邊) | lǐ bian | inside |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 内.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 内容 (內容) | nèi róng | content; substance; details; 项 (xiàng) |
| 国内 (國內) | guó nèi | domestic; internal (to a country) |
| 内部 (內部) | nèi bù | interior; inside (part, section) |
| 境内 (境內) | jìng nèi | within the borders; internal (to a country, province, city etc) |
| 内地 (內地) | nèi dì | inland; interior |
| 内阁 (內閣) | nèi gé | (government) cabinet |
See also: Japanese symbol for “inside”.
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.