刂

marks the character as involving a knife · Kangxi radical 18 · variant of 刀

marks the character as involving a knife, cutting, or cutting punishments

This is the squeezed right-side form of 刀 "knife," which began as a picture of a blade with a handle: a curved back, a point, and a grip. When the knife was pushed to the right edge of a character it was stretched upright and simplified into 刂 — the short left stroke is the shrunken body of the blade, and the tall vertical is the drawn-out handle and edge. Seeing it on the right of a character (刎, 到, 列, 劓) tells you a cutting action is involved, from mowing grass to slicing off a nose.

刂 at a glance

Meaning

marks the character as involving a knife

Strokes

2

Characters

83

Role

Contributes meaning

Kangxi radical

18

Variant of

刀

Characters with 刂 (65 of 83)

Frequently asked questions