寸 means “sun (about 3 cm), a little”

すん · sun

Also: measurement, tenth of a shaku, small

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

スン

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 6 · 3 strokes

The story

A hand with a dot (丶) where the pulse beats just below the palm: a finger's width. 寸 is the sun, a tenth of a shaku, and anything tiny: 寸前 is just before, and 一寸法師 is the inch-high hero who fights an ogre with a needle.

Used in 寸前 (sunzen, just before), 寸法 (sunpou, measurements), and 一寸法師 (issunboushi, Issun-boshi, the inch-high boy)

More from Old Measures

• 坪 tsubo (about 3.3 square meters)
• 厘 rin
• 乙 second
• 斗 dipper
• 尺 shaku
• 升 sho (about 1.8 liters)
• 畝 ridge (in a field)
• 壱 one (formal)
• 弐 two (formal)
• 丙 third (in a series)
• 斤 axe
• 箇 item

Learn 寸 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.