Chinese charactern.1. Any of the set of symbols used to write Chinese, each of which represents a single, usually monosyllabic word or morpheme.2. Any of these symbols used to write the words, morphemes, or sounds of other languages, as one of the kanji of Japanese.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.