Chinese symbol for “wait”
待
dài
to wait; to treat; to deal with; to need
The closest CC-CEDICT match for wait is 待 (dài), defined as: to wait; to treat; to deal with; to need; going to (do sth); about to.
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 “wait”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 等待 | děng dài | to wait; to wait for |
| 等候 | děng hòu | to wait; to wait for |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after |
| 须 (須) | xū | must; to have to |
| 俟候 | sì hòu | to wait (literary) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 待.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 等待 | děng dài | to wait; to wait for |
| 对待 (對待) | duì dài | to treat; treatment |
| 期待 | qī dài | to look forward to; to await |
| 待遇 | dài yù | treatment; pay |
| 看待 | kàn dài | to look upon; to regard |
| 虐待 | nüè dài | to mistreat; to maltreat |
See also: Japanese symbol for “wait”.
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.