Chinese symbol for “words”
言
yán
words; speech; to say; to talk
The closest CC-CEDICT match for words is 言 (yán), defined as: words; speech; to say; to talk.
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 “words”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 言语 (言語) | yán yǔ | words; speech |
| 话语 (話語) | huà yǔ | words; speech |
| 言辞 (言辭) | yán cí | words; expression |
| 字句 | zì jù | words; expressions |
| 话 (話) | huà | dialect; language |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 言.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 语言 (語言) | yǔ yán | language; 门 (mén),种 (zhǒng) |
| 而言 | ér yán | (typically preceded by 就… (jiù xx) or 对… (duì xx) etc) as far as ... is concerned; speaking in terms of ... |
| 发言 (發言) | fā yán | to make a speech; statement |
| 言论 (言論) | yán lùn | expression of opinion; views |
| 宣言 | xuān yán | declaration; manifesto |
| 留言 | liú yán | to leave a message; to leave one's comments; message |
See also: Japanese symbol for “words”.
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.