Chinese symbol for “later”
后来
hòu lái
Traditional: 後來
afterwards; later; newly arrived
The closest CC-CEDICT match for later is 后来 (hòu lái), defined as: afterwards; later; newly arrived.
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 “later”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 后 (後) | hòu | back; behind |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards |
| 随后 (隨後) | suí hòu | afterward; later; subsequently; following that |
| 以后 (以後) | yǐ hòu | after; later |
| 后面 (後面) | hòu mian | the back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 后来.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 最后 (最後) | zuì hòu | final; last; ultimate; finally; in the end |
| 之后 (之後) | zhī hòu | after; behind; (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then |
| 然后 (然後) | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards |
| 以后 (以後) | yǐ hòu | after; later |
| 后面 (後面) | hòu mian | the back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back |
| 起来 (起來) | qǐ lai | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 出来 (出來) | chū lái | to come out; to appear |
| 来自 (來自) | lái zì | to come from (a place); From: (in email header) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “later”.
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.