Chinese character for friend: 朋友 (péngyou)
The Chinese word for friend is 朋友 (péngyou). It is the everyday word for a friend, as in 好朋友 (hǎo péngyou, good friend). Both characters carry the idea of companionship.
How 朋友 is built
朋 (péng) is written as two 月 shapes side by side; in ancient script it showed two strings of shells, but as a memory aid you can see two moons standing together like companions. 友 (yǒu) comes from two right hands 又 drawn side by side, people giving each other a hand. Put together, 朋友 is two companions and two helping hands. The second syllable is usually said in a light neutral tone, péngyou.
朋 péng · friend
- 月yuè — moon; month
- 冂 — frame
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 二 — two strokes
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 冂 — frame
- 月yuè — moon; month
- 冂 — frame
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 二 — two strokes
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 冂 — frame
Origin hint: Two people 月 walking together (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
友 yǒu · friend
- 又yòu — and
Origin hint: Two hands 又 joined, representing friendship; 又 also provides the pronunciation (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 朋友 is used
Other ways to say friend
- 友 yǒu — friend, used in compounds like 友谊 and 好友
- 好友 hǎoyǒu — close friend, a bit more written
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: 朋友 is identical in simplified and traditional, but alone it just reads 'friend', so consider 好朋友 (good friend) for a matching tattoo.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for friend?
朋友 (péngyou) means “friend”.
How do you pronounce 朋友?
朋友 is pronounced péngyou.