Chinese symbol for “wave”
波
bō
wave; ripple; storm; surge
The closest CC-CEDICT match for wave is 波 (bō), defined as: wave; ripple; storm; surge.
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 “wave”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 挥 (揮) | huī | to wave; to brandish |
| 浪潮 | làng cháo | wave; tides |
| 浪 | làng | wave; breaker |
| 挥手 (揮手) | huī shǒu | to wave (one's hand) |
| 波浪 | bō làng | wave |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 波.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 波动 (波動) | bō dòng | to undulate; to fluctuate |
| 波音 | bō yīn | mordent (music) |
| 风波 (風波) | fēng bō | disturbance; crisis |
| 波特 | bō tè | (loanword) baud (computing); porter (beer) |
| 波及 | bō jí | to spread to; to involve |
| 微波 | wēi bō | ripple; microwave |
See also: Japanese symbol for “wave”.
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.