Chinese symbol for “sprig”

折枝

zhé zhī

massage; snapped-off branch; sprig; to snap a twig (i.e. sth that requires very little effort)

The closest CC-CEDICT match for sprig is 折枝 (zhé zhī), defined as: massage; snapped-off branch; sprig; to snap a twig (i.e. sth that requires very little effort).

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

折 zhé

to break, to snap; to fold, to bend; to bow; humble

radical 64 ⼿ · 7 strokes

枝 zhī

branches, limbs; to branch off

radical 75 ⽊ · 8 strokes

Related words

Other words that share a character with 折枝.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
折磨	zhé mó	to torment; to torture
挫折	cuò zhé	setback; reverse
折腾 (折騰)	zhē teng	to toss from side to side (e.g. sleeplessly); to repeat sth over and over again
曲折	qū zhé	winding; (fig.) complicated
折扣	zhé kòu	discount
转折 (轉折)	zhuǎn zhé	shift in the trend of events; turnaround
树枝 (樹枝)	shù zhī	branch; twig
荔枝	lì zhī	litchi or lychee fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn.)

See also: Japanese symbol for “sprig”.

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.