Chinese symbol for “keep”
保持
bǎo chí
to keep; to maintain; to hold; to preserve
The closest CC-CEDICT match for keep is 保持 (bǎo chí), defined as: to keep; to maintain; to hold; to preserve.
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
Other Chinese words for “keep”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 维持 (維持) | wéi chí | to keep; to maintain; to preserve |
| 保留 | bǎo liú | to keep; to retain |
| 保有 | bǎo yǒu | to keep; to retain |
| 留存 | liú cún | to keep; to preserve |
| 保存 | bǎo cún | to conserve; to preserve; to keep; to store; (computing) to save (a file etc) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 保持.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 保护 (保護) | bǎo hù | to protect; to defend |
| 保证 (保證) | bǎo zhèng | guarantee; to guarantee |
| 保障 | bǎo zhàng | to ensure; to guarantee |
| 确保 (確保) | què bǎo | to ensure; to guarantee |
| 保险 (保險) | bǎo xiǎn | insurance; to insure |
| 支持 | zhī chí | to be in favor of; to support |
| 坚持 (堅持) | jiān chí | to persevere with; to persist in |
| 持续 (持續) | chí xù | to continue; to last; to persist |
See also: Japanese symbol for “keep”.
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.