Chinese symbol for “timber”
材
cái
material; timber; ability; aptitude
The closest CC-CEDICT match for timber is 材 (cái), defined as: material; timber; ability; aptitude; a capable individual; coffin (old).
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 “timber”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 材.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 材料 | cái liào | (raw) material; data |
| 题材 (題材) | tí cái | subject matter |
| 教材 | jiào cái | teaching material; measure word: 本 (běn) |
| 身材 | shēn cái | stature; build (height and weight) |
| 木材 | mù cái | wood |
| 器材 | qì cái | equipment; material |
See also: Japanese symbol for “timber”.
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.