How to Write 殛 (jí) — Meaning “to put to death; to kill”

Imagine a scene: the radical 歹 (death) on the left meets the component 亟 (urgent) on the right, so together they mean 'urgent death' — like someone being struck by lightning. This visual of a sudden, severe death helps link the shape to the meaning.

Start with the left radical 歹: write the dot first, then the horizontal stroke, and the curved hook carefully. For the right part 亟, note that it has a horizontal stroke at the top, then a folded stroke, and finally a right-falling stroke — do not confuse the order. A common mistake is writing the right part too wide or mixing up the strokes inside 亟.

While all three contain the radical 歹 and relate to death, 殛 specifically means 'to put to death' or 'to kill', often by lightning or divine punishment. 殉 means 'to sacrifice' or 'to be buried with the dead', and 殊 means 'different' or 'to die' (as in 殊死 'desperate fight'). Visually, 殛 has 亟 on the right, 殉 has 旬, and 殊 has 朱.

殛 is quite rare in everyday speech and appears mostly in formal or literary writing, such as the term 雷殛 (struck by lightning) or 惩殛 (to punish severely). Culturally, it carries a sense of divine or heavenly retribution, as seen in classical texts where 殛 is used for punishment by gods or nature.

Common words containing 殛 include: 雷殛 (léi jí) — Struck by lightning; 殛毙 (jí bì) — to strike dead; to kill; 惩殛 (chéng jí) — to punish severely.