字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

public chamber, hall

On’yomi ドウ

Origin

The character 堂 combines the sound component 尚, which hints at its pronunciation "dō," with the earth radical 土 at the bottom. The earth radical suggests something built or constructed from the ground. Together, these components point to a sturdy, permanent structure—specifically a building where people gather, like a public hall or chamber. The combination of "built from earth" and the sound hint creates a character that represents grand, important buildings used for public gathering or ceremony.

堂 11 strokes

Components

  • 尚 sound hint top
  • 土 radical bottom

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 一堂 いちどう one building (hall, temple, shrine, room)
  • 会堂 かいどう church; chapel
  • 講堂 こうどう auditorium; lecture hall
  • 食堂 しょくどう dining room; dining hall
  • 聖堂 せいどう (Confucian) temple; church
  • 殿堂 でんどう palace; hall
  • 本堂 ほんどう main hall (of a Buddhist temple); main temple
  • 堂々 どうどう magnificent; grand

Related kanji

Same sound component 尚
Same radical

Easily confused with

These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
32
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1010 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+05802