Origin

The left side of the character is the animal radical, showing this character relates to creatures. The right component, 守, serves as a sound hint — it tells you roughly how to pronounce 狩, not what it means. Together, the combination of "animal" with this sound component creates a character for hunting, the act of pursuing animals. Over time, the meaning expanded to cover other forms of gathering or raiding, but the core sense remains tied to animals and the chase.

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