Chinese symbol for “primitive”
原始
yuán shǐ
first; original; primitive; original (document etc)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for primitive is 原始 (yuán shǐ), defined as: first; original; primitive; original (document etc).
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
Related words
Other words that share a character with 原始.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 原因 | yuán yīn | cause; origin |
| 原来 (原來) | yuán lái | original; former; originally; formerly; at first |
| 原则 (原則) | yuán zé | principle; doctrine |
| 原本 | yuán běn | originally; the original; original copy; original version |
| 原理 | yuán lǐ | principle; theory |
| 开始 (開始) | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 始终 (始終) | shǐ zhōng | from beginning to end; all along |
| 创始人 (創始人) | chuàng shǐ rén | creator; founder; initiator |
See also: Japanese symbol for “primitive”.
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.