Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

罪: guilt, sin

Also: crime, fault, blame, offense

JLPT N313 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

罒 carries the meaning · 非 is drawn in

13 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ザイzai · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 罪状ざいじょうcrime, criminal charges
  • 罪人ざいにんcriminal
  • 罪悪ざいあくcrime, sin, vice
  • 罪悪感ざいあくかんfeelings of guilt
  • 有罪ゆうざいguilty
  • 無罪むざいinnocent
  • 原罪げんざいoriginal sin
  • 余罪よざいother crimes, further offenses
  • 犯罪はんざいcrime
  • 犯罪者はんざいしゃcriminal, culprit
  • 謝罪するしゃざいするapologize

つみtsumi · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 罪つみcrime, sin

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Ideogrammic compound (會意)网 net, as 罒 + 非 mistake

The original version is 𦋛 and its original meaning was a net for fishing, then used instead of 辠 due to the similarity of the latter character to 皇, which represents the Emperor.

Source: Wiktionary, 罪 (rev. 92719714), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Eye/net (罒) + wrong/not. Imagine someone being caught in a "net" for doing something "wrong"—the literal image of a "sin" or crime.”
From the 罒 eye story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
罒

Also built on eye (罒)

All 13
非

Also built on injustice (非)

All 7

Also read ザイ

4 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
罪 guilt · 罒
vs扉 front door · 戸
罪 has 罒 where 扉 has 戸.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zuì

Same form: 罪 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
罪 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
罪 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin zuì most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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