掌

掌 · zhǎng

palm of hand, sole of foot, paw

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

palm of hand, sole of foot, paw

Mandarin
zhǎng
Cantonese
zoeng2

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 掌 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

ショウ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

たなごころつかさどる

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

ショウ たなごころ つかさどる

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

장

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
장
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

장:0E

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+638C
Radical
手 · 64
Strokes
12 · Unihan
Residual
8

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

12 strokes
掌
Strokes
12
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

12 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿱𫩠手(GHTJKPV)
⿱龸𠰅(X)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 掌

Character connections

1 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Component roles · attributed

Source analyses, kept separate from modern IDS. CJKVI labels are not individually verified historical conclusions. Evidence & limits ↗

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
tsyangX · 諸兩 反切 · #1809

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 11619 · tsyangX = 宕開三上陽章

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
zhǎng
kCantonese
zoeng2
kDefinition
palm of hand, sole of foot, paw
kTotalStrokes
12
kRSUnicode
64.8
kGradeLevel
2
kTGH
2013:2610

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
zhǎng 31889.020
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
zhǎng 1455.070
Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
zhǎng(279) zhang(14)
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 掌 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
76dictionary records using 掌1forms using this shape1attributed sound links
⿱ Above / below

Shape description
𫩠 above 手 · the same shape in all seven regional standards (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam)
Source notation ^⿱𫩠手$(GHTJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 76 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿱𫩠手$(GHTJKPV)

^⿱龸𠰅$(X)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.