角

contributes the sense of an animal's horn · Kangxi radical 148

contributes the sense of an animal's horn, and by extension things that are pointed, angular, or made from horn — including drinking cups and measuring vessels

角 began as a drawing of an animal's horn seen from the side, with the ridged rings that band a bull's or ram's horn marked as strokes across it. In the modern shape you can still read the picture: the slanting top stroke and the 𠂊-like cover are the tapering tip, and the boxed lower part with the vertical stroke driving through it holds the crosswise ridge lines of the horn's body. Because hollowed horns were used as cups and scoops, 角 came to mark drinking and measuring vessels such as 觚, 觞 and 觳; because a horn has a sharp point and two sides meeting, it also gives the ideas of poking or bumping into something (触) and of an angle or corner. In 解 the horn is being cut away from an ox with a knife, giving the sense of taking apart.

角 at a glance

Meaning

contributes the sense of an animal's horn

Strokes

7

Characters

17

Role

Contributes meaning

Kangxi radical

148

Characters with 角 (15 of 17)

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