The Chinese symbol for perseverance — 毅 (yì)
毅 (yì) is resolve that does not bend — firmness of will held under pressure. It is a literary character: in everyday Chinese you would say 坚持 (to keep at it) long before you would reach for this one.
At a glance
- Character
- 毅 full dictionary entry
- Pinyin
- yì
- Literal meaning
- Resolute; firm of will
- Dictionary senses
- Resolute (perseverance) From the same dictionary as our translator.
Stroke order
What 毅 means
Where the character comes from
毅 combines 豙, an old element depicting a boar with its bristles up, with 殳, a hand holding a weapon. The picture is stubborn force meeting resistance and not giving way.
How it is actually used
毅力 is willpower or staying power, 坚毅 is resolute, 刚毅 is unyielding, and 毅然 is an adverb meaning 'resolutely, without wavering'. All four are written rather than spoken registers.
What 毅 does not mean
It does not mean hard work — that is 努力. It does not mean patient endurance of suffering — that is 忍. 毅 is specifically about a decision that holds.
Claims you will meet elsewhere
"毅 means perseverance."
毅力 means perseverance. A single 毅 is a bound morpheme and also a very common element in given names, so a lone 毅 reads to many people as part of somebody's name.
"毅 is the everyday word for not giving up."
坚持 is. 他坚持了下来 — he stuck with it — is what a Chinese speaker actually says.
For the general version of this problem — why a machine translation of a single word so often reads as confident nonsense — see Why AI Translators Guess.
The character in different scripts
简体
繁體
毅 is the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, fifteen strokes, and it is one of the denser characters on this list. At small sizes the left-hand component fills in, which is worth knowing before it goes anywhere small.
The words 毅 lives in
This is the part a symbol list leaves out, and it is the fastest way to feel what a character actually carries. Readings and meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the translator; tap any word for its full dictionary entry.
Other ways to say perseverance
毅 is one answer, not the answer. Which of these is right depends on what you mean by "perseverance" — and that is usually the question worth settling before anything is written down permanently.
To persist, to keep at it. The everyday verb, and the honest answer to 'how do I say perseverance in Chinese'.
Constancy over time. 恒心 is perseverance as steadiness rather than as force of will.
To endure. The other half of what English packs into perseverance — bearing it, rather than deciding to continue.
毅 — frequently asked questions
What is the Chinese symbol for perseverance?
毅 (yì) is resolve that does not bend — firmness of will held under pressure. It is a literary character: in everyday Chinese you would say 坚持 (to keep at it) long before you would reach for this one. It is written 毅 and pronounced yì.
What does 毅 not mean?
It does not mean hard work — that is 努力. It does not mean patient endurance of suffering — that is 忍. 毅 is specifically about a decision that holds.
Is 毅 commonly mistranslated?
Yes. The claim you will meet most often is: "毅 means perseverance." 毅力 means perseverance. A single 毅 is a bound morpheme and also a very common element in given names, so a lone 毅 reads to many people as part of somebody's name. This page lists 2 such claims about 毅 with what is true instead.
Is 毅 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
毅 is the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, fifteen strokes, and it is one of the denser characters on this list. At small sizes the left-hand component fills in, which is worth knowing before it goes anywhere small.
What else can I use for perseverance in Chinese?
Depending on what you mean: 坚持, 恒, 忍. This page explains when each one is the right choice, and 毅 itself lives in words such as 毅力, 坚毅, 刚毅.
Concepts that get confused with this one
Keep going
Check any wording of your own in the Chinese to English translator before it goes anywhere permanent, look 毅 up in full in the dictionary, learn the components it is built from in the Chinese Radicals guide, see it used in real sentences in the example sentence bank, or read Why AI Translators Guess for why single-word translation is the hardest kind.