Chinese symbol for “owl”
猫头鹰
māo tóu yīng
Traditional: 貓頭鷹
owl
The closest CC-CEDICT match for owl is 猫头鹰 (māo tóu yīng), defined as: owl.
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 “owl”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 枭 (梟) | xiāo | owl; valiant |
| 鸮 (鴞) | xiāo | owl (order Strigiformes) |
| 夜猫子 (夜貓子) | yè māo zi | owl; (fig.) night owl |
| 鵩 | fú | owl |
| 夜枭 (夜梟) | yè xiāo | owl |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 猫头鹰.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 熊猫 (熊貓) | xióng māo | panda; 只 (zhī) |
| 猫咪 (貓咪) | māo mī | kitty (affectionate term for a cat) |
| 小猫 (小貓) | xiǎo māo | kitten |
| 大熊猫 (大熊貓) | dà xióng māo | giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) |
| 野猫 (野貓) | yě māo | wildcat; feral cat; stray cat |
| 头发 (頭髮) | tóu fa | hair (on the head) |
| 街头 (街頭) | jiē tóu | street |
| 镜头 (鏡頭) | jìng tóu | camera lens; camera shot (in a movie etc) |
| 老鹰 (老鷹) | lǎo yīng | (coll.) eagle; hawk; any similar bird of prey |
See also: Japanese symbol for “owl”.
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.