Chinese symbol for “self”
自
zì
(bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course
The closest CC-CEDICT match for self is 自 (zì), defined as: (bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course.
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
Other Chinese words for “self”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自我 | zì wǒ | the self; oneself; self-; (psychology) ego |
| 己 | jǐ | self; oneself |
| 小我 | xiǎo wǒ | the self; the individual |
| 本我 | běn wǒ | id; the self |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 自.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 自由 | zì yóu | freedom; liberty; free; unrestricted |
| 来自 (來自) | lái zì | to come from (a place); From: (in email header) |
| 自然 | zì rán | nature; natural |
| 自动 (自動) | zì dòng | automatic; voluntarily |
| 自身 | zì shēn | itself; oneself |
See also: Japanese symbol for “self”.
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.