Meaning of 尺
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- a Chinese foot
- one-third of a meter
- a ruler
- a tape-measure
- one of the three acupoints for measuring pulse in Chinese medicine
Measure word: 支,把
- one of the characters used to represent a musical note in gongche notation, 工尺譜|工尺谱[gong1 che3 pu3]
How to use 尺
尺 is a traditional unit of length (about one-third of a meter) and also means a ruler. In daily speech people usually say 尺子 (chǐzi) for a ruler and 尺寸 (chǐcùn) or 尺码 (chǐmǎ) for clothing size. Example: 这件衣服的尺寸不对。(Zhè jiàn yīfu de chǐcùn bú duì.) The size of this piece of clothing is wrong.
Picture 尺 (chǐ) as a person holding a ruler at an angle, with the long sweeping stroke reaching out to measure a length. Think of it as the shape of something stretched out to measure a foot.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 尺 (chǐ) with 尽 (jìn), which looks like 尺 with two extra dots, or with 只 (zhǐ) because of the similar sound. Also remember that a foot in imperial units is 英尺 (yīngchǐ), not just 尺.
尺 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
尺 chǐ · a Chinese foot · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 尺.
| 尺寸 | chǐcùn | size; dimensions; measurements (esp. of clothes); (coll.) propriety |
| 尺子 | chǐzi | ruler (measuring instrument) |
| 尺度 | chǐdù | scale; yardstick |
| 英尺 | yīngchǐ | foot (unit of length equal to 0.3048 m) |
| 公尺 | gōngchǐ | (Tw) meter (unit of length) |
| 尺码 | chǐmǎ | size; fitting (of apparel) |
| 近在咫尺 | jìnzàizhǐchǐ | (idiom) very close; almost within reach; close at hand |
| 得寸进尺 | décùnjìnchǐ | lit. win an inch, want a foot (idiom); fig. not satisfied with small gains; give him an in |
Questions about 尺
What does 尺 mean?
尺 (chǐ) means "a Chinese foot; one-third of a meter" and is used as a noun and measure word.
How do you write 尺?
尺 is made of 1 character: 尺 (4 strokes). That is 4 strokes in total.
Is 尺 an HSK word?
Yes. 尺 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 尺 the same length as an English foot?
No. A traditional Chinese 尺 (chǐ) is about one-third of a meter, roughly 33 cm. An English foot is 英尺 (yīngchǐ), which is 0.3048 m.
Why is 尺 sometimes read chě?
The reading chě is only used for a musical note in old gongche notation, as in 工尺谱 (gōngchěpǔ). In everyday Chinese you will almost always read it as chǐ.