卒 meaning and stroke order
Soldier; servant; at last, finally
How to write 卒, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Meaning of 卒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- soldier
- servant
- to finish
- to die
- finally
- at last
- variant of 猝[cu4]
How 卒 is built
Pictographic character. A soldier in armor.
Radical: 十 (ten), shared by 23 characters on this site.
How to remember 卒
Picture a soldier in armor: 亠 is the helmet on top, 从 is two people marching side by side, and 十 at the bottom is the soldier's sturdy legs and armor plate. A plain foot soldier, 卒 (zú), marching in a line.
Today 卒 (zú) mostly appears in fixed words and set phrases rather than on its own. You will see it in 小卒 (xiǎozú, foot soldier), in 狱卒 (yùzú, jailer), and in formal words like 卒业 meaning to finish. Example: 我只是个无名小卒。(Wǒ zhǐshì gè wúmíng xiǎozú.) I am just a nobody.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 卒 with 率 (lǜ / shuài), which also has 亠 on top and 十 at the bottom but has little dots in the middle instead of 从. Also remember that 卒 is read cù only when it means 猝 (sudden), so do not use cù for soldier.
Common words with 卒
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
卒 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 卒
Learning 卒 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 卒
How many strokes are in 卒?
卒 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 卒 mean?
卒 (zú) means soldier; servant; at last, finally. A common word with it is 小卒 (xiǎozú), meaning "foot soldier; minor figure".
How do you pronounce 卒?
卒 is pronounced zú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 卒?
The radical of 卒 is 十, which carries the idea of "ten". Dictionaries list 卒 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 卒?
The traditional form of 卒 is 䘚. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 卒 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 卒 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 卒 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 卒 mean both soldier and to die?
The dictionary lists soldier, to finish, and to die as separate senses of zú. In formal or classical writing, 卒 can mark a death, as in a person's year of death, while in everyday words like 小卒 it means soldier.
What does 卒 mean in Chinese chess?
In xiangqi (Chinese chess), 卒 is the name of the black side's pawn, a simple foot soldier. This fits the sense of 小卒 as a low ranking piece or minor figure.