Chinese symbol for “use”
以
yǐ
to use; by means of; according to; in order to
The closest CC-CEDICT match for use is 以 (yǐ), defined as: to use; by means of; according to; in order to; because of; at (a certain date or place).
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 “use”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using |
| 使用 | shǐ yòng | to use; to employ |
| 运用 (運用) | yùn yòng | to use; to put to use |
| 用途 | yòng tú | use; application |
| 使出 | shǐ chū | to use; to exert |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 以.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may |
| 以及 | yǐ jí | and; as well as |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result |
| 以后 (以後) | yǐ hòu | after; later |
| 以下 | yǐ xià | that level or lower; that amount or less |
| 以上 | yǐ shàng | that level or higher; that amount or more; the above-mentioned |
See also: Japanese symbol for “use”.
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.