How to Write 呎 (chǐ) — Meaning “foot (unit of length)”

Imagine a mouth (口) saying "It's a foot long!" while pointing at a ruler (尺). The ruler 尺 already means a unit of length, so adding the mouth gives you the specific 'foot' unit. Think of the mouth 'claiming' the measurement.

The left radical 口 should be narrow and small, positioned in the upper-left area of the character. The right part 尺 has a horizontal stroke that should not touch the 口, and the last stroke (a right-falling stroke, 捺) must extend fully to the right. Avoid making the 口 too big, as it will unbalance the character.

呎 (chǐ) means 'foot' (unit) and contains 尺 (ruler) on the right. 卟 (bǔ, not common) has 口 on the left and 卜 (divination) on the right, meaning 'to divine' or 'a sound'. 古 (gǔ) is an old character meaning 'ancient' and is made of 十 (ten) over 口 (mouth), unrelated to measurement. Visually, 呎 is the only one with 尺 on the right.

呎 is used specifically for the imperial unit 'foot' (1 foot = 12 inches), mostly in technical or real estate contexts. It appears in terms like 英呎 (British foot) and 平方呎 (square foot), which are common in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia for measuring property area. In mainland China, people usually use 英尺 or 米 instead, but 呎 is still understood.

Common words containing 呎 include: 英呎 (yīng chǐ) — Foot (unit of length); 平方呎 (píng fāng chǐ) — Square foot; 呎吋 (chǐ cùn) — size; dimensions.