字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

gun, arms

On’yomi ジュウ
Kun’yomi つつ

Origin

The character 銃 combines the radical for metal (金) on the left with a sound hint (充) on the right. Since guns are made of metal, the metal radical makes sense for the meaning. The right component 充 doesn't contribute a meaning — it's there mainly to suggest how the character should be pronounced, roughly like "juu." This is a common pattern in kanji where the left side hints at what something is made of or what category it belongs to, while the right side guides you toward the correct sound.

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

銃 14 strokes

Components

  • 金 radical left
  • 充 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

  • 拳銃 けんじゅう pistol; handgun
  • 銃器 じゅうき small arms
  • 銃殺 じゅうさつ death by shooting
  • 銃声 じゅうせい sound of a gunshot; report of a gun
  • 銃弾 じゅうだん bullet (from a rifle)
  • 小銃 しょうじゅう rifle; small arms
  • 短銃 たんじゅう pistol
  • 猟銃 りょうじゅう hunting gun (usu. shotgun or rifle)

Related kanji

Same sound component 充
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
167
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1013 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+09283