Meaning & readings

take, fetch, take up

On’yomi シュ
Kun’yomi と.る、と.り、と.り-、とり、-ど.り
Nanori どる

Origin

This character combines two components to show the act of taking. The left part, , represents an ear, while the right part, , represents a hand or arm. Together, they suggest physically grasping something—the image is of using your hand near your ear, possibly to grab or seize something close by. Over time, this visual idea of "hand taking" broadened to mean simply "to take" or "to fetch" in general, whether or not an ear is literally involved. The specific pairing emphasizes the manual, physical action of grabbing or obtaining something.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

8 strokes

Components

  • radical left
  • radical right

Common words

  • 詐取 さしゅ defrauding; swindle
  • 採取 さいしゅ picking; collecting
  • 搾取 さくしゅ exploitation; bleeding dry
  • 取る とる to take; to pick up
  • 取材 しゅざい gathering material (for an article, novel, etc.); collecting information
  • 取捨 しゅしゃ adoption or rejection; selection
  • 取得 しゅとく obtaining (a qualification, right, object, etc.); acquisition (of land, property, etc.)
  • 摂取 せっしゅ intake (e.g. of salt); ingestion

Reference

Strokes
8
Kangxi radical
29
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#122 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+053D6