Chinese symbol for “serve”
服务
fú wù
Traditional: 服務
to serve; service; 项 (xiàng)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for serve is 服务 (fú wù), defined as: to serve; service; 项 (xiàng).
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 “serve”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 伺候 | cì hou | to serve; to wait upon |
| 效劳 (效勞) | xiào láo | to serve (in some capacity); to work for |
| 发球 (發球) | fā qiú | (tennis etc) to serve; (golf) to tee off |
| 侍 | shì | to serve; to attend upon |
| 侍从 (侍從) | shì cóng | to serve (an important personage); attendant; retainer |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 服务.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 衣服 | yī fu | clothes; measure word: 件 (jiàn), 套 (tào) |
| 服装 (服裝) | fú zhuāng | dress; clothing |
| 舒服 | shū fu | comfortable; feeling well |
| 说服 (說服) | shuō fú | to persuade; to convince |
| 制服 | zhì fú | to subdue; to check |
| 任务 (任務) | rèn wu | mission; assignment; task; duty; role; 项 (xiàng) |
| 业务 (業務) | yè wù | business; professional work |
| 事务 (事務) | shì wù | (political, economic etc) affairs; work |
See also: Japanese symbol for “serve”.
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.