Chinese symbol for “matter”
事
shì
matter; thing; item; work
The closest CC-CEDICT match for matter is 事 (shì), defined as: matter; thing; item; work; affair; measure word: 件 (jiàn), 桩 (zhuāng), 回 (huí).
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 “matter”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 物质 (物質) | wù zhì | matter; substance |
| 事项 (事項) | shì xiàng | matter; item |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; measure word: 件 (jiàn), 桩 (zhuāng) |
| 务 (務) | wù | affair; business |
| 实物 (實物) | shí wù | material object; concrete object |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 事.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 事件 | shì jiàn | incident; event |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; measure word: 件 (jiàn), 桩 (zhuāng) |
| 故事 | gù shì | old practice |
| 军事 (軍事) | jūn shì | military affairs; (attributive) military |
| 事实 (事實) | shì shí | fact; 个 (gè) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “matter”.
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.