肌 jī — flesh; muscle
经常锻炼能让肌肉更结实。Jīng cháng duàn liàn néng ràng jī ròu gèng jiē shi.Frequent exercise makes muscles firmer.
Common words: 肌肉 (jī ròu)、肌肤 (jī fū)、里肌 (lǐ jī)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "muscle"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "muscle", including 肌 (jī), 筋 (jīn). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words, and examples.
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "muscle" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 肌 (jī), 筋 (jīn) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters do not share a sound — their readings span jī, jīn — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 肌 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 肌 jīflesh; muscleUseful words: 肌肉, 肌肤
- 筋 jīnmuscleUseful words: 伤脑筋, 脑筋
Common words for these 2 "muscle" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 肌 (jī) — so "muscle" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "muscle".
筋 jīn — muscle
运动前要先活动一下筋骨。Yùn dòng qián yào xiān huó dòng yí xià jīn gǔ.Before exercising, you should loosen up your muscles and joints.
Common words: 伤脑筋 (shāng nǎo jīn)、脑筋 (nǎo jīn)、筋道 (jīn dao)
All 2 characters
Open 肌、筋 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.