Chinese symbol for “legal”

依法

yī fǎ

legal (proceedings); according to law

The closest CC-CEDICT match for legal is 依法 (yī fǎ), defined as: legal (proceedings); according to law.

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

依 yī

to rely on; to consent, to obey; according to

radical 9 ⼈ · 8 strokes

法 fǎ

law, rule, statute; method, way; French

radical 85 ⽔ · 8 strokes

Other Chinese words for “legal”

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
法定	fǎ dìng	statutory; law-based; legal
合法	hé fǎ	lawful; legitimate
正版	zhèng bǎn	genuine; legal

Related words

Other words that share a character with 依法.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
依据 (依據)	yī jù	according to; basis
依然	yī rán	still; as before
依赖 (依賴)	yī lài	to depend on; to be dependent on
依靠	yī kào	to rely on; to depend on
依照	yī zhào	according to; in light of
无法 (無法)	wú fǎ	unable to; incapable of
法律	fǎ lǜ	law; 条 (tiáo), 套 (tào), 个 (gè)
方法	fāng fǎ	method; way; technique; procedure

See also: Japanese symbol for “legal”.

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.