How to Write 墅 (shù) — Meaning “villa”

Imagine a wealthy person giving (予) a gift of a large house built on land (土) — that's a villa. The top part 予 looks like a roof with a chimney, and the bottom 土 is the ground, so picture a fancy house sitting on a plot of land.

The top part 予 is narrow and balanced, while the bottom 土 is wider and supports it. Be careful with the top: 予 has a left-slanting stroke (㇇) followed by two horizontal strokes, then a vertical hook; do not confuse it with 矛. The bottom 土 has a short top horizontal and a longer bottom horizontal, with the vertical line crossing through the middle.

墅 means 'villa' and focuses on a residential building, while 堙 (yīn) means 'to block up' or a 'mound', and 堞 (dié) means 'battlements' or 'parapet' on a city wall. Visually, 墅 has 予 on top, 堙 has 垔 (yīn, meaning 'to block'), and 堞 has 枼 (yè, meaning 'leaf' or 'thin piece') — they share the 土 radical but different upper components change the meaning completely.

Common words containing 墅 include: 别墅 (bié shù) — Villa; 郊墅 (jiāo shù) — Suburban villa; 墅区 (shù qū) — villa area.