Meaning & readings

hold, have

On’yomi
Kun’yomi も.つ、-も.ち、も.てる
Nanori もち、もつ

Origin

This character combines a hand component on the left with the character for "temple" on the right. The hand element indicates the basic meaning of holding or grasping something physically. The temple character on the right serves as a sound hint, suggesting how the character should be pronounced rather than adding to its meaning. Together, the hand and sound hint formed a character meaning to hold or possess, whether literally in your hands or more broadly as something you have.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

9 strokes

Components

  • radical left
  • sound hint right

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

Common words

  • 維持 いじ maintenance; preservation
  • 堅持 けんじ adhering to (a view, policy, etc.); sticking to
  • 支持 しじ support; backing
  • 持つ もつ to hold (in one's hand); to take
  • 持久 じきゅう endurance; persistence
  • 持参 じさん bringing; taking
  • 持続 じぞく continuation; persisting
  • 持病 じびょう chronic disease; chronic illness

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
64
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#119 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+06301