Chinese symbol for “silkworm”
蚕
cán
Traditional: 蠶
silkworm
The closest CC-CEDICT match for silkworm is 蚕 (cán), defined as: silkworm.
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 “silkworm”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 蚕.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蚕食 (蠶食) | cán shí | (lit. and fig.) to nibble away at |
| 蚕丝 (蠶絲) | cán sī | natural silk (secreted by silkworm) |
| 蚕豆 (蠶豆) | cán dòu | broad bean (Vicia faba); fava bean |
| 养蚕 (養蠶) | yǎng cán | to raise silkworms |
| 蚕茧 (蠶繭) | cán jiǎn | silkworm cocoon |
| 蚕种 (蠶種) | cán zhǒng | silkworm eggs |
See also: Japanese symbol for “silkworm”.
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.