寸 (cùn) is a Chinese character meaning “cun, a traditional Chinese unit of length”. It is written from 丁 (fourth; adult man) and 丶 (dot stroke), and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “cun; inch”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丁 + 丶
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5BF8, Unicode radical data, and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
Add a dot (丶) to the two-stroke shape 丁 to remember the three-stroke shape of 寸.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 尺寸chǐ cùndimensions; size寸 = cùn
Go deeper
All readings
cun; inch
cun, a traditional Chinese unit of length; inch
传统长度单位，十分之一尺；也泛指很短或很小的长度。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 尺寸chǐ cùndimensions; size寸 = cùn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 寸 mean?
寸 (cùn) means cun, a traditional Chinese unit of length; inch.
How do you pronounce 寸?
It is pronounced cùn.
What parts is 寸 made of?
丁 (fourth; adult man) and 丶 (dot stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+5BF8, Unicode radical data, and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 寸 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 寸?
寸. 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 寸?
Common ones are 尺寸. The reading of 寸 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.