Chinese symbol for “scout”
侦
zhēn
Traditional: 偵
to scout; to spy; to detect
The closest CC-CEDICT match for scout is 侦 (zhēn), defined as: to scout; to spy; to detect.
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 “scout”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 侦察兵 (偵察兵) | zhēn chá bīng | a scout; spy |
| 探 | tàn | to explore; to search out |
| 侦察 (偵察) | zhēn chá | to investigate a crime; to scout |
| 探察 | tàn chá | to investigate; to observe; to scout; to seek out and examine; to explore |
| 侦破 (偵破) | zhēn pò | to investigate (as detective); to solve (crime) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 侦.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 侦探 (偵探) | zhēn tàn | detective; to do detective work |
| 侦查 (偵查) | zhēn chá | to detect; to investigate |
| 侦察 (偵察) | zhēn chá | to investigate a crime; to scout |
| 侦测 (偵測) | zhēn cè | to detect; to sense |
| 侦察机 (偵察機) | zhēn chá jī | surveillance aircraft; spy plane |
| 侦破 (偵破) | zhēn pò | to investigate (as detective); to solve (crime) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “scout”.
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.