卒 (zú): soldier, servant, to finish
卒 (zú) is a Chinese character meaning “soldier.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亠 (structural), 从 (structural) and 十 (structural). It ranks #2475 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 卒 a soldier in armor. Its radical form 十 (ten) appears in many related characters such as 十 (shí, ten), 午 (wǔ, 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th June-6th July), year of the Horse), 半 (bàn, half).
Definitions
- soldier
- servant
- to finish
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA soldier in armor
Decomposition: ⿱亠⿱从十 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 卒 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 无名小卒noun | wú míng xiǎo zú | insignificant soldier (idiom) |
| 狱卒noun | yù zú | jailer (old) |
| 小卒noun | xiǎo zú | foot soldier |
| 身先士卒phrase | shēn xiān shì zú | to fight at the head of one's troops |
| 走卒noun | zǒu zú | pawn (i.e. foot soldier) |
| 马前卒noun | mǎ qián zú | lackey |
| 士卒noun | shì zú | soldier |
| 兵卒noun | bīng zú | soldiers |
| 生卒年月 | shēng zú nián yuè | dates of birth and death (of historical figure) |
| 为德不卒 | wéi dé bù zú | to start on virtue but give up (idiom) |
| 生卒年noun | shēng zú nián | dates of birth and death (of historical figure) |
| 脑卒中noun | nǎo cù zhòng | stroke |
| 卒中noun | cù zhòng | stroke |
| 贩夫走卒phrase | fàn fū zǒu zú | lit. peddlers and carriers |
| 更卒 | gēng zú | soldier (serving alternate watch) |
卒 appears in 23 compound words: 13 as the first character, 74 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 卒 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
to be situated in front of all soldiers and attack the enemy as the general; to take the lead as the leader
to start on virtue but give up (idiom); to fail to carry things through; lack of sticking power; short attention span
to be situated in front of all soldiers and attack the enemy as the general; to take the lead as the leader
to start on virtue but give up (idiom); to fail to carry things through; lack of sticking power; short attention span
Example Sentences
我在字典里查到了卒字的详细解释。
wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le zú zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .
I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "卒" in the dictionary.
公元719年,一位名叫洪奕的戍卒离家赴西州已满两年,又接到调令,需限期奔赴北庭戍防。
gōng yuán 7 1 9 nián , yī wèi míng jiào hóng 奕 de 戍 zú lí jiā fù xī zhōu yǐ mǎn liǎng nián , yòu jiē dào diào lìng , xū xiàn qī bēn fù běi tíng 戍 fáng .
In the year 719 AD, a soldier named Hong Yi had been stationed in Xizhou for two full years when he received another transfer order requiring him to report for duty at Beiting within a specified time limit.
扶风班氏未与丈夫合葬可能与其入道修行以及王昂最终“过硖江,坠江而卒”有关。
fú fēng bān shì wèi yǔ zhàng fū gě zàng kě néng yǔ qí rù dào xiū háng yǐ jí wáng áng zuì zhōng guò 硖 jiāng , zhuì jiāng ér zú yǒu guān .
The fact that Ban Shi of Fufeng was not buried alongside her husband may be related to her decision to become a Taoist nun and to Wang Ang’s eventual “crossing of the Xie River, where he fell into the river and died.”
“小卒过河”双人对弈、大师车轮战、人机擂台赛、文化集市等活动也轮番上演。
xiǎo zú guò hé shuāng rén duì yì , dà shī chē lún zhàn , rén jī 擂 tái sài , wén huà jí shì děng huó dòng yě lún fān shàng yǎn .
Activities such as “Pawn Crossing the River” two-player matches, master round-robin tournaments, human-vs.-computer challenges, and a cultural fair were held one after another.
威尼斯双年展台湾馆 “郁卒的平面” 李亦凡解读手机世代的扁平与焦虑
wēi ní sī shuāng nián zhǎn tái wān guǎn yù zú de píng miàn lǐ yì fán jiě dòu shǒu jī shì dài de piān píng yǔ jiāo lǜ
Venice Biennale Taiwan Pavilion: “Flat and Frustrated” – Li Yifan Interprets the Flatness and Anxiety of the Smartphone Generation
陈松伶开骚唱经典《乌卒卒》曝光55岁真实状态 造型一细节遭吐槽
chén sōng 伶 kāi sāo chàng jīng diǎn wū zú zú pù guāng 5 5 suì zhēn shí zhuàng tài zào xíng yī xì jié zāo tǔ cáo
Chen Songling sang the classic "Wu Zhu Zhu" to expose the true state of the 55-year-old and the details of the shape were complained about
他不过是个无名小卒而已。
Tā bùguò shì ge wúmíngxiǎozú éryǐ.
He is just a Mr Nobody.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 卒 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 卒 with real-time feedback
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