Chinese symbol for “spear”
矛
máo
spear; lance; pike; measure word: 支 (zhī)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for spear is 矛 (máo), defined as: spear; lance; pike; measure word: 支 (zhī).
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 “spear”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 枪 (槍) | qiāng | gun; firearm |
| 枪 (鎗) | qiāng | variant of 枪 (qiāng); rifle |
| 厹 | qiú | spear |
| 梭镖 (梭鏢) | suō biāo | spear |
| 戭 | yǎn | spear |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 矛.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 矛盾 | máo dùn | contradiction; 个 (gè) |
| 矛头 (矛頭) | máo tóu | spearhead; barb |
| 自相矛盾 | zì xiāng máo dùn | to contradict oneself; self-contradictory |
| 长矛 (長矛) | cháng máo | pike; lance |
| 闹矛盾 (鬧矛盾) | nào máo dùn | to be at loggerheads; to have a falling out |
| 内部矛盾 (內部矛盾) | nèi bù máo dùn | internal contradiction |
See also: Japanese symbol for “spear”.
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.