Chinese symbol for “interchangeable”

通用

tōng yòng

to use anywhere, anytime (card, ticket etc); to be used by everyone (language, textbook etc); (of two or more things) interchangeable

The closest CC-CEDICT match for interchangeable is 通用 (tōng yòng), defined as: to use anywhere, anytime (card, ticket etc); to be used by everyone (language, textbook etc); (of two or more things) interchangeable.

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

通 tōng

to pass through, to open, to connect; to communicate; common

radical 162 ⾡ · 11 strokes

用 yòng

to use, to employ, to apply; use

radical 101 ⽤ · 5 strokes

Related words

Other words that share a character with 通用.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
通过 (通過)	tōng guò	to pass through; to get through; to adopt (a resolution); to pass (legislation)
交通	jiāo tōng	to be connected; traffic
通常	tōng cháng	regular; usual; normal; usually; normally
普通	pǔ tōng	common; ordinary
通知	tōng zhī	to notify; to inform
沟通 (溝通)	gōu tōng	to join; to connect; to link up; to communicate
使用	shǐ yòng	to use; to employ
利用	lì yòng	to exploit; to make use of

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.