King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “kneecap”

膝盖骨
xī gài gǔ
Traditional: 膝蓋骨
kneecap

The closest CC-CEDICT match for kneecap is 膝盖骨 (xī gài gǔ), defined as: kneecap.

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

膝 xī
knee
radical 130 ⾁ · 15 strokes
盖 gài
to cover, to hide, to protect
radical 108 ⽫ · 11 strokes
骨 gǔ
bone; skeleton; frame, framework
radical 188 ⾻ · 10 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “kneecap”

WordPinyinMeaning
髌骨 (髕骨)bìn gǔkneecap; patella

Related words

Other words that share a character with 膝盖骨.

WordPinyinMeaning
膝盖 (膝蓋)xī gàiknee; (Internet slang) to kneel down (in admiration)
卑躬屈膝bēi gōng qū xīto bow and bend the knee (idiom); fawning; bending and scraping to curry favor
膝下xī xiàat the knee (in reference to children); (salutation used in letters to parents or grandparents)
护膝 (護膝)hù xīkneepad; knee brace
双膝 (雙膝)shuāng xīboth knees
促膝cù xīto sit knee to knee
覆盖 (覆蓋)fù gàito cover
涵盖 (涵蓋)hán gàito cover; to comprise
骨头 (骨頭)gǔ toubone; measure word: 根 (gēn), 块 (kuài)

See also: Japanese symbol for “kneecap”.

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.