Chinese symbol for “simmer”
熬
āo
to simmer; to boil slowly
The closest CC-CEDICT match for simmer is 熬 (āo), defined as: to simmer; to boil slowly.
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 “simmer”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 煨 | wēi | to simmer; to roast in ashes |
| 发酵 (發酵) | fā jiào | to ferment; (fig.) (of trends, emotions or repercussions etc) to bubble away; to simmer; to develop |
| 炆 | wén | (Cantonese) to simmer; to cook over a slow fire |
| 馇 (餷) | chā | to cook and stir (animal feed); (coll.) to simmer (porridge etc) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 熬.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 煎熬 | jiān áo | to suffer; to torture |
| 熬夜 | áo yè | to stay up late or all night |
| 难熬 (難熬) | nán áo | (of pain or hardship) hard to bear |
| 苦熬 | kǔ áo | to endure (years of suffering) |
| 熬出头 (熬出頭) | áo chū tóu | to break clear of all the troubles and hardships; to achieve success |
| 熬煎 | áo jiān | suffering; torture |
See also: Japanese symbol for “simmer”.
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.