城
castle
Readings
On'yomi
- ジョウ
- セイ
Kun'yomi
- しろ
Nanori
- いく
- がき
- き
- くに
- ぐしく
- ぐすく
- しき
- すく
- ぜい
- たち
- なり
Meaning
城 centers on a fortified stronghold: a castle, typically built with earthworks and walls.
Most common words using 城
20 of 133- 城しろN3
castle
- 茨城いばらき
Ibaraki (prefecture)
- 宮城きゅうじょう
Imperial Palace (esp. from 1888 to 1946)
- 宮城みやぎ
Miyagi (prefecture)
- 城壁じょうへき
castle wall; town walls; defensive wall; rampart
- 山城やましろ
Yamashiro (former province located in the south of present-day Kyoto Prefecture)
- 山城やまじろ
mountain castle
- 金城きんじょう
impregnable castle
- 城主じょうしゅ
lord of a castle
- 城下町じょうかまち
castle town; city in Japan that developed around the castle of a feudal lord
- 都城とじょう
castle town
- 長城ちょうじょう
long (defensive) wall
- 城塞じょうさい
fortress; stronghold; citadel
- 城跡しろあと
castle site; ruins of a castle
- 城門じょうもん
castle gate
- 古城こじょう
old castle; old fortress
- 築城ちくじょう
castle construction; building a castle; fortification
- 城内じょうない
inside of a castle
- 江戸城えどじょう
Edo Castle (residence of the Shogun during the Edo period, now the site of the Tokyo Imperial Palace)
- 城下じょうかN1
land near a castle
Study
Etymology
城 combines 土 (earth) with 成, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of completion, suggesting earthworks that form a completed fortification.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side is earth 土, and the right side 成 suggests something built up. Picture earth piled high to form the walls of a castle.
Reading mnemonic
For ジョウ, imagine a grand castle with a showy gate: show -> ジョウ, and the earth walls make it a fortress.