漢字Kanji · in Structures & Home
守: guard, protect
Also: defend, obey
宀 carries the meaning · 寸 is drawn in
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Five readings, and the words that use each
シュshu · on'yomi · in compounds
- 守備しゅびdefense
- 守衛しゅえいsecurity guard
- 死守するししゅするdefend to the last
- 厳守するげんしゅするobserve (a rule) strictly
- 保守的なほしゅてきなconservative
スsu · on'yomi
- 留守るすbeing away from home
- 留守番るすばんhouse-watching
- 留守番電話るすばんでんわanswering machine
まもるmamoru · kun'yomi · on its own
- 守るまもるprotect, obey
まもりmamori · kun'yomi
- お守りおまもりamulet
もりmori · kun'yomi
- 子守歌こもりうたlullaby
Also read -もり, かみ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)宀 roof; building + 寸 hand
Ideogrammic compound (會意): 宀 (“roof; building”) + 寸 (“hand”); to guard, keep, or defend a place (e.g., a building whose roof is visible on top of the character). It's possible that 寸 (original form of 肘) is also a phonetic component.
Source: Wiktionary, 守 (rev. 93935005), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Under one roof! Imagine the safety and warmth of a sturdy house at the end of a long day.”
Connections
Also read ス
12 kanji share this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shǒu
Same form: 守 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 守 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 守 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin shǒu most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.