Disclosed are a character information output method and apparatus. The method comprises: obtaining a target character from a text; obtaining target character information that is matched with the target character; and outputting the target character information. Through the technical scheme, the target character, such as a popular character, an abbreviated character, an idiom, a verse, a rarely-used Chinese word group, a rarely-used Chinese character or the like, in the text can be automatically obtained, the target character information, such as the meanings of the popular character, the idiom and the verse, the full name of the abbreviated character, the pinyin of the rarely-used Chinese word group or the rarely-used Chinese character, the origin of the target character and the like, matched with the target character is obtained, and the target character information is output, so that the user that is unfamiliar with the target character can know about the target character according to the target character information, the user is prevented from performing query in other modes, and convenience is brought for the user.