刻 (kè) is a Chinese character meaning “to carve”. It is written from 亥 (the twelfth Earthly Branch) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to carve; a short moment”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亥 + 刂
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分，经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（亥6画 + 刂2画 = 8画）；声符归属见《说文解字》「刻：从刀亥聲」
Memory aid
The knife 刂 stands upright at the right edge, and 亥 fills the block it works on. Press the blade in and cut the mark — that is 刻.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 立刻lì kèimmediately刻 = kè
- 时刻shí kèmoment; point in time; constantly刻 = kè
- 苛刻kē kèharsh; demanding刻 = kè
- 顷刻qǐng kèin an instant; in a moment刻 = kè
- 深刻shēn kèdeep; profound; making a strong impression刻 = kè
Go deeper
All readings
to carve; a short moment
to carve; to engrave; a quarter of an hour; a short moment
用刀在物体上雕凿；也指很短的一段时间（一刻为十五分钟）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 立刻lì kèimmediately刻 = kè
- 时刻shí kèmoment; point in time; constantly刻 = kè
- 苛刻kē kèharsh; demanding刻 = kè
- 顷刻qǐng kèin an instant; in a moment刻 = kè
- 深刻shēn kèdeep; profound; making a strong impression刻 = kè
Sound component
亥 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 刻 mean?
刻 (kè) means to carve; to engrave; a quarter of an hour; a short moment.
How do you pronounce 刻?
It is pronounced kè.
What parts is 刻 made of?
亥 (the twelfth Earthly Branch) and 刂 (knife (side form)), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分，经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（亥6画 + 刂2画 = 8画）；声符归属见《说文解字》「刻：从刀亥聲」. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 刻 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 刻?
刂. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 刻?
Common ones are 立刻 and 时刻. The reading of 刻 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.