How to Write 庹 (tuǒ) — Meaning “a unit of length (arm span) or a surname”

Picture a person standing under a roof (广) spreading both arms as wide as possible to measure something, like a giant ruler (尺). This visual of the roof and the ruler merging gives you the idea of an arm-span unit.

Write the 广 radical first: dot, horizontal stroke, then a left-falling stroke that extends downward. Inside, write 尺 starting with a horizontal, then left-falling, then vertical, and finally a dot. A common mistake is making the 尺 too big, so it touches the roof; keep it centered and slightly smaller.

庹 (tuǒ) has 尺 (a measure) at the bottom, while 㢆 (rare, meaning threshold) uses 里 (inside) and 庠 (xiáng, meaning school) uses 羊 (sheep). Visually, the bottom part is the key: 尺 is narrow with a hook, 里 is wider, and 羊 has two dots or a horizontal stroke.

庹 appears mainly as a surname (庹姓) or in the traditional measurement word 一庹 (one arm span, about 1.5 meters). You might encounter it when describing a person's outstretched arm length or in historical texts, but it is not used in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 庹 include: 一庹 (yī tuǒ) — a fathom (the distance between outstretched arms); 庹姓 (tuǒ xìng) — the surname Tuo; 几庹 (jǐ tuǒ) — how many fathoms (arm spans).