Meaning & readings

captured, criminal, arrest, catch

On’yomi シュウ
Kun’yomi とら.われる

Origin

This character shows a person (人) enclosed within a box or enclosure (囗), which appears twice — once on the left and once on the right — to emphasize confinement. The visual idea of a human figure trapped or boxed in directly expresses the meaning of being captured or imprisoned. The doubled enclosure makes the sense of restraint even clearer, transforming a simple picture of confinement into the concept of a criminal or captive person.

囚 5 strokes

Components

  • 囗 radical enclosure
  • 人 meaning part
  • 囗 radical enclosure

Common words

  • 囚人 しゅうじん prisoner; convict
  • 死刑囚 しけいしゅう criminal condemned to death; convict on death row

Reference

Strokes
5
Kangxi radical
31
Formation type
Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#2107 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+056DA