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Kotomora

沖

open sea, offing, rise high into sky

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · grade 4FrequencyTop 1,000Strokes7

Readings

On'yomi

  • チュウ

Kun'yomi

  • おき
  • おきつ
  • ちゅう.する
  • わく

Meaning

沖 centers on open water away from shore: the offing or open sea. The sense of rising high into the sky extends this idea of being far out and elevated.

Most common words using 沖

20 of 76
  • 沖縄おきなわ
    N5

    Okinawa (city, prefecture)

  • 沖おき
    N3

    open sea

  • 沖合おきあい

    off the coast; offshore; out at sea

  • 沖アミおきアミ

    krill; euphasiid (any species in the family Euphausiacea)

  • 沖縄電力おきなわでんりょく

    Okinawa Electric Power Co., Inc.; OEPC

  • スマトラ沖地震スマトラおきじしん

    Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (2004, resulting in the Indian Ocean tsunami)

  • マリアナ沖海戦マリアナおきかいせん

    Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19-20, 1944)

  • マレー沖海戦マレーおきかいせん

    Naval Battle off Malaya (December 10, 1941)

  • レイテ沖海戦レイテおきかいせん

    Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 23-25, 1944)

  • 三陸沖地震さんりくおきじしん

    Sanriku offshore earthquake (esp. June 15, 1896, March 3, 1933, and March 11, 2011); Sanriku earthquake

  • 在沖ざいちゅう

    staying in Okinawa; resident in Okinawa; stationed in Okinawa

  • 在沖米軍ざいちゅうべいぐん

    US troops stationed in Okinawa

  • 来沖らいおき

    coming to Okinawa; visit to Okinawa

  • 東北地方太平洋沖地震とうほくちほうたいへいようおきじしん

    Tōhoku earthquake (March 11, 2011); Tohoku earthquake; Sendai Earthquake; Great East Japan Earthquake

  • 沖するちゅうする

    to rise up into the air; to ascend into the sky

  • 沖つおきつ

    of the ocean; in the open sea; oceanic

  • 沖スロおきスロ

    Okinawan pachinko parlor slot machine

  • 沖仲仕おきなかし

    longshoreman; stevedore

  • 沖合底引き網漁業おきあいそこびきあみぎょぎょう

    offshore trawl fishery

  • 沖合漁業おきあいぎょぎょう

    offshore fishing industry

Explore all words using 沖 →

Study

Etymology

沖 combines 氵 (water) with 中 (middle), suggesting water that is far out or in the middle of the sea. The 'rise high' meaning may come from an extended sense of being far out and elevated.

Meaning mnemonic

Water 氵 in the middle 中 of nowhere: imagine the open sea far from land, where the horizon rises high into the sky.

Reading mnemonic

For チュウ, picture a boat in the open sea choosing a direction: choose -> チュウ, and the water stretches endlessly around.