颅 (lú) is a Chinese character meaning “skull”. It is written from 卢 (Lu (a surname); sound component lú) and 页 (head; page, leaf (of a book)), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “skull”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
卢 + 页
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 顱，首骨也。从頁盧聲
Memory aid
页 is a head, and 卢 stands beside it sounding out lú. Together they name the hard case of the head: 颅, the skull.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 头颅tóu lúhead; skull颅 = lú
- 颅骨lú gǔskull; cranium颅 = lú
Go deeper
All readings
skull
skull; cranium; the head
头骨；也指头。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 头颅tóu lúhead; skull颅 = lú
- 颅骨lú gǔskull; cranium颅 = lú
Sound component
卢 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 颅 mean?
颅 (lú) means skull; cranium; the head.
How do you pronounce 颅?
It is pronounced lú.
What parts is 颅 made of?
卢 (Lu (a surname); sound component lú) and 页 (head; page, leaf (of a book)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 顱，首骨也。从頁盧聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 颅 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 颅?
页. 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 颅?
Common ones are 头颅 and 颅骨. The reading of 颅 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.