毫
hair; drawing brush; (in the) least; one thousandth; currency unit, 0.1 yuan
Closest English meanings
fine hair·one-tenth·milli-
The Calligrapher — Qú Lìngwèn 瞿令问
Tang seal-script master famed for his suspended-needle seal (xuanzhen).
Tang calligrapher (), master of seal script — known for 《峿台铭》. Tang dynasty
Cultural Story
毫 is the fine tip of an animal's hair — the 說文解字 calls it '兔毫', the hair of a rabbit. From 'a hair's breadth' it became a unit of the tiny: one-tenth of a cent, later the metric milli-. A 狼毫 (wolf-hair) brush uses this tip. 毫 captured the smallest measurable degree of anything.
Common words & phrases
- 毫米 millimeter
- 毫毛 fine hair
- 丝毫 the least bit
- 毫发 a hair's breadth
- 狼毫 wolf-hair brush
Read the story behind the character
毫 measures the small: a 毫米 (millimeter) on a ruler, the 毫毛 (fine hair) on your arm, 絲毫 (the least bit) of doubt. An artist's 狼毫 (wolf-hair brush) paints with a tip finer than a thread. We say not a 毫髮 (a hair's breadth) of difference — precision lives in this quiet character.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Qú Lìngwèn 瞿令问, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.