Chinese symbol for “substitution”
代谢
dài xiè
Traditional: 代謝
replacement; substitution; metabolism (biol.)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for substitution is 代谢 (dài xiè), defined as: replacement; substitution; metabolism (biol.).
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 “substitution”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 换人 (換人) | huàn rén | to replace sb (personnel, sports team player etc); substitution |
| 更代 | gēng dài | substitution; replacing former general |
| 取代 | qǔ dài | to replace; to supersede |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 代谢.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 代表 | dài biǎo | representative; delegate |
| 时代 (時代) | shí dài | age; era |
| 年代 | nián dài | a decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties); age |
| 现代 (現代) | xiàn dài | modern times; modern age |
| 代理 | dài lǐ | to act on behalf of sb in a responsible position; to act as an agent or proxy |
| 古代 | gǔ dài | ancient times |
| 谢谢 (謝謝) | xiè xie | to thank; thanks |
| 感谢 (感謝) | gǎn xiè | to thank; to be grateful |
See also: Japanese symbol for “substitution”.
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.