Chinese symbol for “thatch”
茨
cí
Caltrop or puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris); to thatch (a roof)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for thatch is 茨 (cí), defined as: Caltrop or puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris); to thatch (a roof).
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 “thatch”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 苫 | shān | straw mat; thatch |
| 蓬乱 (蓬亂) | péng luàn | matted (of straw or hair); unkempt |
| 茆 | máo | variant of 茅 (máo); thatch |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 茨.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 茨冈 (茨岡) | cí gāng | (loanword) tzigane; gypsy |
| 土阶茅茨 (土階茅茨) | tǔ jiē máo cí | lit. earthen steps and a thatched hut; frugal living conditions (idiom) |
| 茨菰 | cí gu | arrowhead (Sagittaria subulata, a water plant) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “thatch”.
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.