What ⺞ means
It is a radical symbol used to classify other characters.
A radical is a recurring component dictionaries use to group Chinese characters. 歺 has recorded forms in oracle-bone inscriptions (carved on bones), bronze inscriptions, and small-seal script, an early formal writing style; traditional explanations connect its shape with human remains.
The traditional Kangxi dictionary system numbers as radical 78; Unicode associates ⺞ with that form and with the distinct character 歺. ⺞ belongs in classification or character analysis, while an ordinary Chinese word should use its own character, such as 死.
It signals a dictionary or character-analysis context, not ordinary Chinese prose.
Use 歹 or 死 as actual Chinese word characters; ⺞ is an indexing mark.
Part of the collection
Don't confuse it with
1
Related characters
2
Questions people ask
1Why does ⺞ show as a box on some devices?
Not every system ships a font for the CJK Radicals Supplement block. Where none is installed, the character shows as an empty box; adding a font such as Noto fixes it. The character itself is still correct and copies correctly.
More like this
8
How to type or find ⺞
- Search it as
- ⺞ · ⼍ · 歺 · 歹 · death radical · Kangxi radical 78 · dai · gatsu
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.