King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “reference”

参考
cān kǎo
Traditional: 參考
consultation; reference; to consult; to refer

The closest CC-CEDICT match for reference is 参考 (cān kǎo), defined as: consultation; reference; to consult; to refer.

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

参 cān
to take part in, to intervene; ginseng
radical 28 ⼛ · 8 strokes
考 kǎo
to test, to investigate, to examine
radical 125 ⽼ · 6 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “reference”

WordPinyinMeaning
介绍信 (介紹信)jiè shào xìnletter of introduction; recommendation letter; reference
指称 (指稱)zhǐ chēngdesignation; reference
参考文献 (參考文獻)cān kǎo wén xiàncited material; reference (to the literature)
引用yǐn yòngto quote; to cite; to recommend; to appoint
引征 (引徵)yǐn zhēngquotation; citing

Related words

Other words that share a character with 参考.

WordPinyinMeaning
参加 (參加)cān jiāto participate; to take part; to join
参与 (參與)cān yùto participate (in sth)
参观 (參觀)cān guānto visit (a place, e.g. museum or factory); to tour; to look around
参数 (參數)cān shùparameter
参赛 (參賽)cān sàito compete; to take part in a competition
考虑 (考慮)kǎo lǜto think over; to consider
考试 (考試)kǎo shìto take an exam; exam
思考sī kǎoto reflect on; to ponder over

See also: Japanese symbol for “reference”.

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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