Meaning & readings

stop, halt

On’yomi
Kun’yomi と.まる、-ど.まり、と.める、-と.める、-ど.め、とど.める、とど.め、とど.まる、や.める、や.む、-や.む、よ.す、-さ.す、-さ.し
Nanori どめ

Origin

This character is a picture of a foot or footprint. The shape shows a sole at the bottom with toes or a heel mark above it, representing a human foot. Because a foot that stops moving is standing still, the image of a foot came to represent the idea of stopping or halting. Over time, the picture simplified and became more abstract, but it kept this meaning of cessation or rest.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

4 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (止).

Common words

  • 休止 きゅうし pause; suspension
  • 禁止 きんし prohibition; inhibition
  • 止す よす to stop (doing); to cease
  • 止む やむ to cease; to stop
  • 制止 せいし control; check
  • 静止 せいし stillness; rest
  • 阻止 そし obstruction; prevention
  • 中止 ちゅうし interruption; discontinuance

Reference

Strokes
4
Kangxi radical
77
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#310 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+06B62