How to Write 虮 (jǐ) — Meaning “Nit (louse egg)”

Imagine a tiny louse egg sitting on a small table (几) while a bug (虫) watches over it. The word 'nit' sounds like 'knee' – picture a louse egg on your knee, and the right side 几 looks like a little stool.

Start with the left radical 虫: write vertical, horizontal fold, horizontal, vertical, lift, then a dot (not a horizontal line). Then the right part 几: first a left-falling stroke (pie), then a horizontal fold and curved hook. A common mistake is making the dot in 虫 too large or forgetting the hook in 几.

虫 (chóng) is a standalone character meaning 'insect' or 'worm', while 虮 always has the right component 几 and specifically means 'louse egg'. 虬 (qiú) also uses 虫 on the left but has a different right part (丩, a twisting shape) and means a hornless dragon, not a louse egg.

虮 is not common in everyday conversation but appears in medical or biological texts about parasites, such as in the word 虱虮 (shī jǐ) meaning 'lice and nits'. Culturally, it reflects historical hygiene issues but is now mostly seen in literature or specialist writing.

Common words containing 虮 include: 虮子 (jǐ zi) — Nit (louse egg); 虱虮 (shī jǐ) — Lice and nits; 虮 (jǐ) — Nit (louse egg).