宙 (zhòu) is a Chinese character meaning “all of time, past and present”. It is written from 宀 (roof) and 由 (from; by way of; cause), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “time — the other half of 宇宙”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
宀 + 由
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5B99 IDS ⿱宀由, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (3 strokes 宀 + 5 strokes 由 = 8)
Memory aid
One roof (宀) over everything that comes from (由) before and after now — 宙 is all of time, the time half of 宇宙.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 宇宙yǔ zhòuuniverse; cosmos宙 = zhòu
Go deeper
All readings
time; eternity
all of time, past and present; used almost only in 宇宙 (universe), where 宇 is space and 宙 is time
古往今来的时间。现代汉语中几乎只用于「宇宙」，宇指空间，宙指时间。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 宇宙yǔ zhòuuniverse; cosmos宙 = zhòu
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 宙 mean?
宙 (zhòu) means all of time, past and present; used almost only in 宇宙 (universe), where 宇 is space and 宙 is time.
How do you pronounce 宙?
It is pronounced zhòu.
What parts is 宙 made of?
宀 (roof) and 由 (from; by way of; cause), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5B99 IDS ⿱宀由, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (3 strokes 宀 + 5 strokes 由 = 8). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 宙 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 宙?
宀. 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 宙?
Common ones are 宇宙. The reading of 宙 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.