Chinese character 颿

It means a fast-moving horse or a boat’s sail.

An early Chinese dictionary, the Shuowen Jiezi, records 颿 in small-seal script, an old carved writing style. It defines 颿 as a horse moving swiftly and analyzes it through 馬 (“horse”) and 風 (“wind”).

This small-seal form is the earliest securely attested for this exact graph as of 2026-09-12; its earlier origin remains uncertain. The Wenxuan tradition also uses 颿 for a ship’s sail or awning, preserved in terms such as 颿布 and 颿船.

Is 颿 the same as 帆?

For the sail meaning, 颿 is a historical variant of 帆.

Commentators disagree about the route. Xu Xuan's note says boat sails were first written 颿 and 帆 came later. Duan Yucai disagrees: he points to 帆 in the Zuo Commentary, an early Chinese historical text, so it need not derive from 颿.

For an ordinary sail, use 帆; keep 颿 for a classical quotation, a dictionary form, or a deliberately archaic style.