King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “proverb”

谚语
yàn yǔ
Traditional: 諺語
proverb

The closest CC-CEDICT match for proverb is 谚语 (yàn yǔ), defined as: proverb.

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

谚 yàn
proverb, maxim
radical 149 ⾔ · 11 strokes
语 yǔ
words, language; saying, expression
radical 149 ⾔ · 9 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “proverb”

WordPinyinMeaning
谚 (諺)yànproverb
成语 (成語)chéng yǔChinese set expression, typically of 4 characters, often alluding to a story or historical quotation; idiom; proverb; saying; adage; 条 (tiáo),本 (běn),句 (jù)
俗语 (俗語)sú yǔcommon saying; proverb
俗话 (俗話)sú huàcommon saying; proverb
俗谚 (俗諺)sú yàncommon saying; proverb

Related words

Other words that share a character with 谚语.

WordPinyinMeaning
俗谚 (俗諺)sú yàncommon saying; proverb
农谚 (農諺)nóng yànfarmers' saying
民谚 (民諺)mín yànfolk saying; proverb
古谚 (古諺)gǔ yànancient proverb; old saying
俚谚 (俚諺)lǐ yàncommon saying; folk proverb
语言 (語言)yǔ yánlanguage; 门 (mén),种 (zhǒng)
语音 (語音)yǔ yīnspeech sounds; pronunciation
标语 (標語)biāo yǔwritten slogan; placard

See also: Japanese symbol for “proverb”.

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.

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