漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
射: shoot, shine into
Also: onto, archery
身 and 寸 carry the meaning
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou Today
Oracle bone and bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Three readings, and the words that use each
シャsha · on'yomi · in compounds
- 射撃しゃげきshot, gunshot
- 注射ちゅうしゃinjection
- 放射線ほうしゃせんradiation
- 放射能ほうしゃのうradioactivity
- 日射病にっしゃびょうheatstroke, sunstroke
- 直射日光ちょくしゃにっこうdirect sunlight
- 射殺するしゃさつするshoot and kill a person
- 反射するはんしゃするreflect, reverberate
- 発射するはっしゃするfire, shoot, discharge
いるiru · kun'yomi · on its own
- 射るいるshoot [v.t.]
さすsasu · kun'yomi
- 射すさすshine, strike [v.i.]
Also read うつ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)弓 bow + 矢 arrow
In the oracle bone script, an ideogrammic compound (會意): 弓 (“bow”) + 矢 (“arrow”) – to shoot a bow. In the bronze inscriptions, a hand (又) drawing the bowstring was added.
Source: Wiktionary, 射 (rev. 92746418), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Body (身) + hand/inch (寸). Imagine a person's "body" and a steady "hand" working together in perfect harmony to release a powerful arrow—the physical act of shooting.”
Connections
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shè
Same form: 射 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 射 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 射 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin shè most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.