Chinese symbol for “snail”
蜗牛
wō niú
Traditional: 蝸牛
snail; Taiwan pr. [gua1 niu2]
The closest CC-CEDICT match for snail is 蜗牛 (wō niú), defined as: snail; Taiwan pr. [gua1 niu2].
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 “snail”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蜗 (蝸) | wō | snail; Taiwan pr. [gua1] |
| 蛳 (螄) | sī | snail |
| 螺 | luó | spiral shell; snail |
| 蜗蜒 (蝸蜒) | wō yán | snail |
| 水牛儿 (水牛兒) | shuǐ niú r | (dialect) snail |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 蜗牛.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 耳蜗 (耳蝸) | ěr wō | (anatomy) cochlea |
| 蜗居 (蝸居) | wō jū | humble abode; to live (in a tiny, cramped space) |
| 蜗杆 (蝸桿) | wō gǎn | worm (mechanical engineering) |
| 人工耳蜗 (人工耳蝸) | rén gōng ěr wō | cochlear implant |
| 无壳蜗牛 (無殼蝸牛) | wú ké wō niú | fig. people who cannot afford to buy their own house |
| 牛奶 | niú nǎi | cow's milk; measure word: 瓶 (píng), 杯 (bēi) |
| 牛肉 | niú ròu | beef |
| 牛顿 (牛頓) | niú dùn | newton (SI unit of force) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “snail”.
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.