寸

Derived characters

 * Appendix:Chinese radical/寸

Descendants

 * す

Glyph origin
Shuowen considered it – a position on the forearm where the pulse can be palpated by compressing the radial artery. It is called in modern Chinese, and the meaning of a unit of measurement is derived from the distance between the wrist and this position. Compare, , ,.

However, it may be an abbreviated form of, borrowed to mean a unit of measurement (see: 李轶.先秦度量单位"尺""寸"用字考[J].云南师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2010, 42(5).DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1000-5110.2010.05.017.)

Definitions

 * 1)  A cun or Chinese inch, a traditional unit of length of about 3cm.
 * 2)  Legally defined as the tsun of 3.71475cm.
 * 3)  very short or little
 * 4)  cunkou pulse; radial artery pulse at the wrist
 * 5)  coincidental; unbelievable; opportune
 * 1)  cunkou pulse; radial artery pulse at the wrist
 * 2)  coincidental; unbelievable; opportune

Etymology 1
From.

Noun

 * 1) a Japanese measurement of length equivalent to 10  or approximately 3.03 cm
 * 2)  a length, measurement
 * 3) shortness, fewness

Affix

 * 1) sun
 * 2)  length, measurement
 * 3) minimal, negligible

Etymology 2
From.

Etymology
From.

Etymology
Cognate with mainland 🇨🇬.

Pronunciation

 * ん ( - [1])

Noun

 * 1) a measurement of length equivalent to 10  or approximately 3.03 cm