Chinese symbol for “old”
旧
jiù
Traditional: 舊
old; opposite: new 新; former; worn (with age)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for old is 旧 (jiù), defined as: old; opposite: new 新; former; worn (with age).
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 “old”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 苍老 (蒼老) | cāng lǎo | old; aged |
| 年迈 (年邁) | nián mài | old; aged |
| 老 | lǎo | prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people) |
| 陈 (陳) | chén | (bound form) to lay out; to exhibit; to display; (bound form) to narrate; to state; to explain; to tell |
| 故 | gù | happening; instance |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 旧.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 依旧 (依舊) | yī jiù | as before; still; to remain the same |
| 仍旧 (仍舊) | réng jiù | still (remaining); to remain (the same) |
| 旧址 (舊址) | jiù zhǐ | former site; old location |
| 怀旧 (懷舊) | huái jiù | to feel nostalgic; nostalgia |
| 老旧 (老舊) | lǎo jiù | outmoded; old-fashioned |
| 陈旧 (陳舊) | chén jiù | old-fashioned; out of date; obsolete; antiquated |
See also: Japanese symbol for “old”.
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.