Chinese symbol for “investigate”
探讨
tàn tǎo
Traditional: 探討
to investigate; to probe
The closest CC-CEDICT match for investigate is 探讨 (tàn tǎo), defined as: to investigate; to probe.
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 “investigate”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 追究 | zhuī jiū | to investigate; to look into |
| 探究 | tàn jiū | to investigate; to delve |
| 考查 | kǎo chá | to investigate; to study |
| 勘测 (勘測) | kān cè | to investigate; to survey |
| 侦破 (偵破) | zhēn pò | to investigate (as detective); to solve (crime) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 探讨.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 探索 | tàn suǒ | to explore; to probe |
| 侦探 (偵探) | zhēn tàn | detective; to do detective work |
| 探测 (探測) | tàn cè | to probe; to survey |
| 探险 (探險) | tàn xiǎn | to explore; to go on an expedition |
| 探究 | tàn jiū | to investigate; to delve |
| 讨论 (討論) | tǎo lùn | to discuss; to talk over |
| 讨厌 (討厭) | tǎo yàn | to dislike; to loathe; annoying; troublesome |
| 研讨会 (研討會) | yán tǎo huì | discussion forum; seminar |
See also: Japanese symbol for “investigate”.
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.