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
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “invent”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 首创 (首創) | shǒu chuàng | to originate; to pioneer; to invent |
| 造 | zào | to make; to build |
| 编造 (編造) | biān zào | to compile; to draw up |
| 炮制 (炮製) | páo zhì | to concoct; to invent |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 发明.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 发展 (發展) | fā zhǎn | development; growth |
| 发生 (發生) | fā shēng | to 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 xiàn | to notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect |
| 开发 (開發) | kāi fā | to exploit (a resource); to open up (for development); to develop |
| 发布 (發佈) | fā bù | variant of 发布 (fā bù) |
| 说明 (說明) | shuō míng | to explain; to illustrate |
| 证明 (證明) | zhèng míng | proof; certificate |
| 明白 | míng bai | clear; 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.