寸
cùn HSK4

(hand), inch

← Back to history
approved by Peter Olson · Oct 11, 2021, 07:17 PM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Oct 11, 2021, 07:17 PM

(hand) gloss

Changed fields: gloss

Original meaning: pulse point on wrist

Pictograph of a hand with a line marking a spot on the wrist. In traditional Chinese medicine this spot on the wrist where the pulse can be taken is called the 寸口.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttshwonH[tsʰ]ˤu[n]-s thumb; inch

說文解字

《說文》：“寸，十分也。人手卻一寸動，謂之寸口。从又，从一。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.233-234
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)