Chinese symbol for “principle”
原则
yuán zé
Traditional: 原則
principle; doctrine; 个 (gè)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for principle is 原则 (yuán zé), defined as: principle; doctrine; 个 (gè).
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 “principle”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 原理 | yuán lǐ | principle; theory |
| 则 (則) | zé | (literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then; (bound form) standard; norm |
| 道理 | dào li | reason; argument |
| 道 | dào | road; path (条 (tiáo),股 (gǔ)); (bound form) way; reason; principle |
| 理则 (理則) | lǐ zé | principle; logic |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 原则.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 原因 | yuán yīn | cause; origin |
| 原来 (原來) | yuán lái | original; former; originally; formerly; at first |
| 原本 | yuán běn | originally; the original; original copy; original version |
| 原始 | yuán shǐ | first; original |
| 原理 | yuán lǐ | principle; theory |
| 规则 (規則) | guī zé | rule; regulation; regular; orderly; fixed |
| 否则 (否則) | fǒu zé | otherwise; if not; or (else) |
| 准则 (準則) | zhǔn zé | norm; standard |
See also: Japanese symbol for “principle”.
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.