Chinese symbol for “snake”
蛇
shé
snake; serpent; 条 (tiáo)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for snake is 蛇 (shé), defined as: snake; serpent; 条 (tiáo).
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 “snake”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 长虫 (長蟲) | cháng chong | (coll.) snake |
| 辣条 (辣條) | là tiáo | latiao, spicy gluten strip (Chinese snack); (slang) snake |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 蛇.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毒蛇 | dú shé | viper |
| 蟒蛇 | mǎng shé | python; boa |
| 眼镜蛇 (眼鏡蛇) | yǎn jìng shé | cobra |
| 响尾蛇 (響尾蛇) | xiǎng wěi shé | rattlesnake |
| 牛鬼蛇神 | niú guǐ shé shén | evil monsters; (fig.) bad characters |
| 蛇头 (蛇頭) | shé tóu | head of a snake; human smuggler |
See also: Japanese symbol for “snake”.
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.