吋 meaning and stroke order
English inch (unlike 寸, which could be the English or the Chinese inch)
How to write 吋, stroke by stroke
6 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 吋
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- inch (English)
How 吋 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A foreign 口 inch 寸; 寸 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 吋
Picture a mouth 口 next to 寸 (cùn, inch): it is the inch that came in through foreign speech, the English inch. The 寸 part also tells you the sound, cùn.
吋 is a specialized character for the imperial inch, seen mostly in older texts and in Taiwan and Hong Kong for screen, wheel, or pipe sizes. In mainland China people usually write 英寸 (yīngcùn) instead. Example: 这台电视是五十吋的。(Zhè tái diànshì shì wǔshí cùn de.) This TV is 50 inches.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 吋 as a two-syllable word like 英寸 (yīngcùn) because it means English inch, but it is pronounced just cùn. Also do not swap it with 寸 when you mean the traditional Chinese inch, which is a different length.
吋 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 吋
Learning 吋 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 吋
How many strokes are in 吋?
吋 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 吋 mean?
吋 (cùn) means English inch (unlike 寸, which could be the English or the Chinese inch).
How do you pronounce 吋?
吋 is pronounced cùn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 吋?
The radical of 吋 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 吋 under this radical.
How long is a traditional Chinese inch 寸 compared to 吋?
The English inch 吋 is 2.54 cm. The modern Chinese 寸 used in the market system is about 3.33 cm, so the two are not the same length.
Are there other measurement characters built the same way with 口?
Yes. Older Chinese created similar characters for English units, such as 呎 (chǐ, foot) from 口 and 尺 (foot). They follow the same pattern of 口 plus a native unit.