What ⾙ means
It labels the shell component in radical lookup.
Dictionaries file characters with this component under the shell entry. Its ancestor, a cowrie drawing, appears in Shang oracle-bone inscriptions (marks cut on bones for divination) and early bronze writing, around 1250–1000 BCE. Cowries served as adornment, rewards, and money; the component later signaled wealth, property, or trade.
Is ⾙ the same as 貝?
No; they have different jobs.
貝 is the corresponding Chinese character written in words; ⾙ is the index sign.
Part of the collection
Don't confuse it with
1
Related characters
1
Questions people ask
1Why does ⾙ show as a box on some devices?
Not every system ships a font for the Kangxi Radicals 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
11
How to type or find ⾙
- Search it as
- shell radical · radical 154 · shell component
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
⾙\2F99Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.