Chinese symbol for “north”
北
běi
north; (classical) to be defeated
The closest CC-CEDICT match for north is 北 (běi), defined as: north; (classical) to be defeated.
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 “north”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 北方 | běi fāng | north; the northern part a country |
| 北边 (北邊) | běi biān | north; north side |
| 北面 | běi miàn | northern side; north |
| 朔 | shuò | beginning; first day of lunar month |
| 北国 (北國) | běi guó | the northern part of the country; the North |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 北.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 东北 (東北) | dōng běi | northeast |
| 北部 | běi bù | northern part |
| 北方 | běi fāng | north; the northern part a country |
| 西北 | xī běi | northwest |
| 南北 | nán běi | north and south; north to south |
| 以北 | yǐ běi | to the north of (suffix) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “north”.
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.