Chinese symbol for “outside”
外
wài
outside; in addition; foreign; external
The closest CC-CEDICT match for outside is 外 (wài), defined as: outside; in addition; foreign; external.
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 “outside”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 之外 | zhī wài | outside; excluding |
| 外部 | wài bù | the outside; (attributive) external; exterior; surface |
| 外面 | wài miàn | outside (also pr. [wai4 mian5] for this sense); surface |
| 外头 (外頭) | wài tou | outside; outdoors |
| 外边 (外邊) | wài bian | outside; outer surface |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 外.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 另外 | lìng wài | additional; in addition |
| 此外 | cǐ wài | besides; in addition; moreover; furthermore |
| 外国 (外國) | wài guó | foreign country |
| 国外 (國外) | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 海外 | hǎi wài | overseas; abroad |
| 之外 | zhī wài | outside; excluding |
See also: Japanese symbol for “outside”.
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.