龜

contributes the sense of turtle or tortoise · Kangxi radical 213

contributes the sense of turtle or tortoise

龜 began as a picture of a turtle, drawn from the side with its head up and its shell filling the body of the graph. In the modern form you can still read it top to bottom: the small stroke and 「⺈」-like piece at the top are the head poking out, the boxy middle with its cross-hatching is the patterned shell, the strokes flicking out to the left are the legs, and the hook at the bottom is the tail. The character is used on its own for turtles, and it keeps that meaning wherever it appears as a part.

龜 at a glance

Meaning

contributes the sense of turtle or tortoise

Strokes

18

Characters

1

Kangxi radical

213

Frequently asked questions