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). 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
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 | wú míng xiǎo zú | insignificant soldier (idiom) |
| 狱卒 | yù zú | jailer (old) |
| 小卒 | xiǎo zú | foot soldier |
| 身先士卒 | shēn xiān shì zú | to fight at the head of one's troops |
| 走卒 | zǒu zú | pawn (i.e. foot soldier) |
| 马前卒 | mǎ qián zú | lackey |
| 士卒 | shì zú | soldier |
| 兵卒 | 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 | shēng zú nián | dates of birth and death (of historical figure) |
| 脑卒中 | nǎo cù zhòng | stroke |
| 卒中 | cù zhòng | stroke |
| 贩夫走卒 | 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.
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
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
What does 卒 (zú) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 卒 (zú)?
Is 卒 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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