Meaning & readings

pillar, post, cylinder, support

On’yomi チュウ
Kun’yomi はしら

Origin

The character 柱 combines the wood radical on the left, which shows this word refers to something wooden or made of wood, with the component 主 on the right, which serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation. The 木 radical makes perfect sense because pillars and posts are typically wooden structures that support buildings. By pairing a meaning component showing "wood" with a sound indicator, the character efficiently conveys both what the object is and hints at how to say it.

柱 9 strokes

Components

  • 木 radical left
  • 主 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

  • 円柱 えんちゅう column; shaft
  • 支柱 しちゅう prop; stay
  • 電柱 でんちゅう utility pole; power pole
  • 大黒柱 だいこくばしら central pillar (of a building)

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
75
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1119 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+067F1