Meaning & readings
place, extent
On’yomi ショ
Kun’yomi ところ、-ところ、どころ、とこ
Nanori せ
Origin
This character combines two parts: the left side, 戸, acts as a sound hint suggesting the pronunciation "ショ" (sho), while the right side, 斤, originally meant an axe or tool and carries the sense of "location" or "place where work is done." Together they formed a character meaning a specific place or location—the idea of where something happens or exists. The combination allowed Japanese speakers to write the word for "place" (ところ) using a character whose sound matched Chinese pronunciation while incorporating a meaningful component related to activity or work at a location.
Common words
- 所が ところが even so; however
- 急所 きゅうしょ vital part (of the body); tender spot
- 近所 きんじょ neighbourhood; neighborhood
- 御所 ごしょ imperial palace (esp. Kyoto Imperial Palace); imperial residence
- 住所 じゅうしょ address (of a home, business, etc.); residence
- 所謂 いわゆる what is called; what you call
- 所轄 しょかつ jurisdiction
- 所管 しょかん jurisdiction
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 8
- Kangxi radical
- 63
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #221 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+06240