How to Write 蚣 (gōng) — Meaning “centipede”

Imagine a centipede (虫) crawling along a public road (公). The sound "gōng" also resembles "gong" — picture a centipede shaped like a long gong. This visual link helps you recall both the meaning and pronunciation.

Be careful to write the radical 虫 correctly — it has a dot in the lower left, not just a horizontal line. Also keep the right side 公 balanced: the two strokes of 撇 and 捺 should spread out, and the final 点 should be centered. A common mistake is making the left side too narrow.

蚣 (gōng) means "centipede," while 虮 (jǐ) refers to a louse egg and 虰 (dīng) means a type of insect. Visually, 蚣 has 公 on the right, 虮 has 几 (small table), and 虰 has 丁 (nail). They share the 虫 radical but have different right-side components that change the meaning.

蚣 almost always appears in the word 蜈蚣 (wúgōng), meaning "centipede." It is rarely used alone. In traditional Chinese culture, centipedes are sometimes used in medicine (蜈蚣药) and appear in folklore as venomous creatures, so you may encounter 蚣 in health or mythological contexts.

Common words containing 蚣 include: 蜈蚣 (wú gōng) — Centipede; 大蜈蚣 (dà wú gōng) — Large centipede; 蜈蚣药 (wú gōng yào) — Centipede medicine.