King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “mainstay”

支柱
zhī zhù
mainstay; pillar; prop; backbone

The closest CC-CEDICT match for mainstay is 支柱 (zhī zhù), defined as: mainstay; pillar; prop; backbone.

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

支 zhī
to support, to sustain; to withdraw, to pay; a branch (of a bank)
radical 65 ⽀ · 4 strokes
柱 zhù
to lean on; pillar, post, support
radical 75 ⽊ · 9 strokes

Other Chinese words for “mainstay”

WordPinyinMeaning
中流砥柱zhōng liú dǐ zhùmainstay; cornerstone
主力军 (主力軍)zhǔ lì jūnmain force (military); (fig.) the group or element with the most impact
栋梁 (棟梁)dòng liángridgepole; ridgepole and beams
归依 (歸依)guī yīto convert to (a religion); to rely upon
台柱 (臺柱)tái zhùpillar; mainstay

Related words

Other words that share a character with 支柱.

WordPinyinMeaning
支持zhī chíto be in favor of; to support
支付zhī fùto pay (money)
支援zhī yuánto provide assistance; to support
支撑 (支撐)zhī chēngto prop up; to support
支出zhī chūto spend; to pay out; expenses; expenditure
支持者zhī chí zhěsupporter
柱子zhù zipillar; measure word: 根 (gēn)
石柱shí zhùstela; upright stone

See also: Japanese symbol for “mainstay”.

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.

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