Chinese symbol for “time”
时间
shí jiān
Traditional: 時間
(concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time
The closest CC-CEDICT match for time is 时间 (shí jiān), defined as: (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time.
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 “time”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 时候 (時候) | shí hou | time; length of time |
| 时刻 (時刻) | shí kè | time; juncture |
| 时光 (時光) | shí guāng | time (esp. as sth that passes) |
| 季节 (季節) | jì jié | time; season |
| 时分 (時分) | shí fēn | time; period during the day |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 时间.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 时候 (時候) | shí hou | time; length of time |
| 同时 (同時) | tóng shí | at the same time; simultaneously |
| 当时 (當時) | dāng shí | then; at that time |
| 时期 (時期) | shí qī | period; phase |
| 之间 (之間) | zhī jiān | (after a noun) between; among; amid; (used after certain bisyllabic words to form expressions indicating a short period of time, e.g. 弹指之间 ( |
| 期间 (期間) | qī jiān | period of time; time |
| 空间 (空間) | kōng jiān | space; room; (fig.) scope; leeway |
| 民间 (民間) | mín jiān | among the people; popular |
See also: Japanese symbol for “time”.
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.