King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “invent”

发明
fā míng
Traditional: 發明
to invent; an invention; 个 (gè)

The closest CC-CEDICT match for invent is 发明 (fā míng), defined as: to invent; an invention; 个 (gè).

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

发 fā
to issue, to dispatch, to send out; hair
radical 29 ⼜ · 5 strokes
明 míng
bright, clear; to explain, to understand, to shed light
radical 72 ⽇ · 8 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “invent”

WordPinyinMeaning
首创 (首創)shǒu chuàngto originate; to pioneer; to invent
造zàoto make; to build
编造 (編造)biān zàoto compile; to draw up
炮制 (炮製)páo zhìto concoct; to invent

Related words

Other words that share a character with 发明.

WordPinyinMeaning
发展 (發展)fā zhǎndevelopment; growth
发生 (發生)fā shēngto happen; to occur; to take place; to arise (e.g. 发生问题 (fā shēng wèn tí) "a problem arises")
发现 (發現)fā xiànto notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect
开发 (開發)kāi fāto exploit (a resource); to open up (for development); to develop
发布 (發佈)fā bùvariant of 发布 (fā bù)
说明 (說明)shuō míngto explain; to illustrate
证明 (證明)zhèng míngproof; certificate
明白míng baiclear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable

See also: Japanese symbol for “invent”.

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

  1. How Much Should You Spend on a Wooden Practice Sword
  2. How Long Should a Bokken Be for Your Height
  3. Red Oak vs White Oak for Bokken Which Wood Wins
  4. Best Bokken for Beginners: Choosing Your First Training Sword
  5. Best Escrima Sticks for Students Choosing Your First Pair
  6. Essential Accessories for Your First Pair of Escrima Sticks
  7. Best Escrima Sticks for Your First Seminar
  8. Best Canes for Cane-Fu and Hapkido Training
  9. Which Rattan Sticks Have the Most Nodes for Durability
  10. Choosing Filipino Martial Arts Sticks for Double Work