How to Write 吋 (cùn) — Meaning “Inch”

Imagine a mouth (口) saying "cun" while pointing to a ruler marked with inch units (寸). The mouth gives the sound, and the ruler gives the meaning of inch. This visual combines both parts of the character in one scene.

Write the left radical 口 as a compact square, not too wide or tall. The right part 寸 has a horizontal stroke that should extend past the vertical hook. A common mistake is making the left 口 too large, which unbalances the character.

吋 has 口 on the left and 寸 on the right, while 卟 has 口 on the left and 卜 (bǔ, divination) on the right. 古 is different—it is 十 above 口, with no component on the right. In meaning, 吋 means inch, 卟 is an onomatopoeic sound, and 古 means ancient.

吋 is often used in technical contexts like screen sizes (e.g., 5吋 phone) and photo sizes (e.g., 吋照片 for ID photos). It is more common in Taiwan and Hong Kong; mainland China often uses the loanword 英寸 (yīngcùn) instead. The character still appears in product specifications and measurements.

Common words containing 吋 include: 吋 (cùn) — Inch; 英吋 (yīng cùn) — Inch; 吋照片 (cùn zhào piān) — Inch-sized photo (for IDs).