Chinese symbol for “thing”
东西
dōng xi
Traditional: 東西
thing; stuff; person; 个 (gè),件 (jiàn)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for thing is 东西 (dōng xi), defined as: thing; stuff; person; 个 (gè),件 (jiàn).
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 “thing”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 物 | wù | (bound form) thing; (literary) the outside world as distinct from oneself; people other than oneself |
| 事物 | shì wù | thing; object |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; measure word: 件 (jiàn), 桩 (zhuāng) |
| 东东 (東東) | dōng dōng | (coll.) thing; item |
| 事 | shì | matter; thing |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 东西.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 东北 (東北) | dōng běi | northeast |
| 东方 (東方) | dōng fāng | east |
| 东部 (東部) | dōng bù | the east; eastern part |
| 股东 (股東) | gǔ dōng | shareholder; stockholder |
| 西部 | xī bù | western part |
| 西北 | xī běi | northwest |
| 西南 | xī nán | southwest |
| 法西斯 | fǎ xī sī | fascist (loanword) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “thing”.
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.