Chinese symbol for “open”
开
kāi
Traditional: 開
to open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on; to put in operation; to operate; to run; to boil
The closest CC-CEDICT match for open is 开 (kāi), defined as: to open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on; to put in operation; to operate; to run; to boil; to write out (a prescription, check, invoice etc); (directional complement) away; off.
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 “open”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 公开 (公開) | gōng kāi | open; overt; public; to make public; to release |
| 打开 (打開) | dǎ kāi | to open; to show (a ticket) |
| 开幕 (開幕) | kāi mù | to open (a conference); to inaugurate |
| 开通 (開通) | kāi tōng | to open (a new road or railway line); to set up (a hotline); to launch (a service); to subscribe to (a members-only service) |
| 开办 (開辦) | kāi bàn | to open; to start (a business etc) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 开.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 开始 (開始) | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 开发 (開發) | kāi fā | to exploit (a resource); to open up (for development); to develop |
| 离开 (離開) | lí kāi | to depart; to leave |
| 公开 (公開) | gōng kāi | open; overt; public; to make public; to release |
| 开放 (開放) | kāi fàng | to bloom; to open |
| 召开 (召開) | zhào kāi | to convene (a conference or meeting); to convoke |
See also: Japanese symbol for “open”.
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.