Meaning & readings

quiet

On’yomi セイ、ジョウ
Kun’yomi しず-、しず.か、しず.まる、しず.める
Nanori しづ

Origin

This character combines two parts: the left side, , serves as a sound hint suggesting how to pronounce the character, while the right side, (meaning "to fight" or "to struggle"), carries the meaning. The idea is that when there is no fighting or struggling—when conflict stops—quietness and peace result. Over time, the character came to represent the state of being quiet or calm, with the sound component helping readers remember how to say it.

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

14 strokes

Components

  • sound hint left
  • meaning part right

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

Common words

  • 安静 あんせい rest; quiet
  • 閑静 かんせい quiet (e.g. neighbourhood); peaceful
  • 静か しずか quiet; silent
  • 静観 せいかん watchful waiting; careful supervision
  • 静止 せいし stillness; rest
  • 静寂 せいじゃく silence; stillness
  • 静粛 せいしゅく silent
  • 静物 せいぶつ still object; object at rest

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
174
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#764 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+09759