Chinese symbol for “wash”
洗
xǐ
to wash; to bathe; to develop (photographs); to shuffle (cards etc); to erase (a recording)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for wash is 洗 (xǐ), defined as: to wash; to bathe; to develop (photographs); to shuffle (cards etc); to erase (a recording).
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 “wash”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 清洗 | qīng xǐ | to wash; to rinse; to clean; (fig.) to purge; to get rid of (corrupt individuals etc) |
| 荡 (蕩) | dàng | to wash; to squander |
| 淘 | táo | to wash (rice, sand etc in water to remove impurities); to dredge; to scoop out (sediment or waste) |
| 浣 | huàn | to wash; to rinse |
| 渲 | xuàn | wash (color) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 洗.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 清洗 | qīng xǐ | to wash; to rinse; to clean; (fig.) to purge; to get rid of (corrupt individuals etc) |
| 洗澡 | xǐ zǎo | to bathe; to take a shower |
| 洗脑 (洗腦) | xǐ nǎo | to brainwash |
| 洗礼 (洗禮) | xǐ lǐ | (lit. and fig.) baptism |
| 洗衣机 (洗衣機) | xǐ yī jī | washing machine; washer; 台 (tái) |
| 洗劫 | xǐ jié | to loot; to ransack; to pillage |
See also: Japanese symbol for “wash”.
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.