How to Write 尃 (fū) — Meaning “To spread; to apply (ancient form of 敷)”

Picture a chef spreading butter on bread: the top part 甫 looks like a knife or a spatula, and the bottom 寸 is a hand holding it. The sound "fū" is like "food" — you spread food with your hand.

First write 甫 with 7 strokes: a short horizontal line at the top, then a vertical line through it, then the horizontal and vertical components inside. Then add 寸 with 3 strokes — a horizontal, a hook, and a dot. Make sure 寸 is centered below 甫, not too far left or right.

虽然写起来很类似，但两字意思不同。尃 (fū) 意为“散布”或“涂抹”，而封 (fēng) 意为“密封”或“封条”。视觉上，尃的上半部分是甫（有竖穿过横），而封的上半部分是圭（两个土字上下叠放）。

尃 is very rare today — it is the ancient form of 敷 (fū), which is used in modern words like 敷面膜 (apply a face mask) or 敷衍 (to be perfunctory). You might encounter 尃 in old classical texts or calligraphy, but in daily life you will almost always see its modern version 敷.

Common words containing 尃 include: 尃布 (fū bù) — To spread; to disseminate (archaic); 尃施 (fū shī) — To bestow; to spread (archaic); 尃演 (fū yǎn) — To elaborate; to explain (archaic).