Chinese symbol for “salt”
盐
yán
Traditional: 鹽
salt; measure word: 粒 (lì)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for salt is 盐 (yán), defined as: salt; measure word: 粒 (lì).
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 “salt”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 腌 (醃) | yān | to salt; to pickle |
| 卤 (鹵) | lǔ | alkaline soil; salt |
| 咸盐 (鹹鹽) | xián yán | salt (colloquial); table salt |
| 鹾 (鹺) | cuó | brine; salt |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 盐.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 食盐 (食鹽) | shí yán | edible salt; table salt |
| 海盐 (海鹽) | hǎi yán | sea salt |
| 盐水 (鹽水) | yán shuǐ | salt water; brine |
| 盐酸 (鹽酸) | yán suān | hydrochloric acid |
| 盐业 (鹽業) | yán yè | salt industry |
| 盐湖 (鹽湖) | yán hú | salt lake |
See also: Japanese symbol for “salt”.
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.