How to Write 刻 (kè) — Meaning “to carve; quarter (of an hour)”

Imagine a knife (刂) carving a pig (亥) — the left part 亥 looks a bit like a pig's head. This helps recall the meaning "to carve." For the time meaning, think of carving time into 15-minute pieces, like a quarter hour.

Stroke order: first write 亥 (dot, horizontal, left-falling, horizontal, horizontal, right-falling) then add 刂 (vertical, vertical hook). A common mistake is making the right-falling stroke of 亥 too long, which can make the character unbalanced. Keep the left side compact and the knife radical straight and slightly taller.

All three use the knife radical, but the left parts differ. 刻 has 亥 (pig/sound), 刑 has 开 (open), and 刎 has 勿 (do not). In meaning, 刻 means "carve" or "quarter hour," 刑 means "punishment," and 刎 is rare (as in 自刎, to cut one's throat). Visually, 刻 has a dot at top left, while 刑 has a vertical stroke inside its left component.

刻 is common in everyday words like 雕刻 (diāo kè, to carve), 刻苦 (kè kǔ, hardworking), and 立刻 (lì kè, immediately). It also means a quarter of an hour in 一刻钟 (yī kè zhōng), a term from traditional Chinese timekeeping where a day was divided into 100 quarters. The idiom 刻舟求剑 (carving a mark on a boat to find a sword) warns against rigid thinking.

Common words containing 刻 include: 刻苦 (kè kǔ) — hardworking; assiduous; 立刻 (lì kè) — Immediately; at once; 一刻钟 (yī kè zhōng) — a quarter of an hour.