What 螦 means
It names a shipworm, a wormlike mollusk that bores into wooden boats.
In Korean Hanja, its reading is so; Chinese reference works also give the Mandarin reading sāo.
A Joseon-era maritime regulation tells officials to report shipworm damage to transport ships and cover repairs. It identifies 螦 as a character made in Korea.
Someone sent me 螦—what does it mean?
Read it as a literal rare character or a lookup prompt. Someone may be quoting the glyph, asking about it, or naming the shipworm. The character alone does not reveal whether there is a joke; ask for the surrounding sentence before guessing.
Is 螦 Japanese or Korean?
Korean historical records call it Korean-made.
A Korean historical source glosses 螦 as 배좀, a shipworm. A scholarly survey of Hanja characters made in Korea also lists 穴舟虫.
As of 2026, some Chinese dictionary entries label it Japanese; that label alone does not establish Japanese origin.
Historical and specialist; its recorded meaning belongs to ship and pest terminology.
A dictionary's Japanese label is not proof of Japanese origin.
What it means when someone sends it to you
4 readingsDon't confuse it with
3Questions people ask
3Why does 螦 look different or fail to display?
It can: 螦 is font-dependent, so a missing glyph or changed outline can reflect the font used on that device.
Is 螦 definitely Japanese?
No. Korean historical records call it Korean-made, while some Chinese dictionary entries label it Japanese. The label does not prove its origin.
Can I send 螦 by itself?
Yes. It can read as a literal word or a prompt about the character; add a sentence if you mean a particular joke or reference.
How to type 螦
螦\87A6Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.