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Kotomora

蔵

storehouse, hide, own, have, possess

JLPTN2StatusJōyō · grade 6FrequencyTop 500Strokes15

Readings

On'yomi

  • ゾウ
  • ソウ

Kun'yomi

  • くら
  • おさ.める
  • かく.れる

Nanori

  • くらし
  • くらん
  • くろう
  • さし
  • ざ
  • ろう

Meaning

蔵 centers on keeping something safe and out of sight: storing goods in a storehouse, hiding something away, or possessing something securely.

Most common words using 蔵

20 of 161
  • 冷蔵庫れいぞうこ
    N5

    refrigerator; fridge

  • 蔵くら
    N1

    warehouse; storehouse; cellar; magazine; granary; godown; depository; treasury; elevator

  • 内蔵ないぞう

    internal (e.g. disk); built-in; equipped (with)

  • 武蔵むさし

    Musashi (former province located in parts of present-day Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures)

  • 貯蔵ちょぞう
    N2

    storage; preservation; stocking; stockpiling

  • 地蔵じぞう

    Kshitigarbha (bodhisattva who looks over children, travellers and the underworld); Ksitigarbha; Jizō

  • 蔵元くらもと

    brewery (sake, soy); brewer

  • 埋蔵まいぞう
    N1

    burying in the ground

  • 所蔵しょぞう

    (in one's) possession

  • 冷蔵れいぞう
    N1

    cold storage; refrigeration

  • 蔵書ぞうしょ

    collection of books; (personal) library

  • 秘蔵ひぞう

    treasuring; cherishing; prizing; holding dear

  • 収蔵しゅうぞう

    garnering; collection

  • 酒蔵さかぐら

    sake brewery

  • 三蔵さんぞう

    three branches of Buddhist sutras

  • 大蔵おおくら

    Ministry of Finance

  • 武蔵野線むさしのせん

    Musashino Line

  • 貯蔵庫ちょぞうこ

    storehouse; bunker; silo

  • 大蔵省おおくらしょう
    N1

    Ministry of Finance (1869-2001)

  • 忠臣蔵ちゅうしんぐら

    (story of the) Forty-seven Rōnin; the Treasury of Loyal Retainers; Chūshingura

Explore all words using 蔵 →

Study

Etymology

蔵 is the modern simplified form of 藏. The older form combines 艹 (grass) with 臧, which likely contributed the sound and the idea of storing or hiding. The modern form replaces the upper grass radical with a simplified top, but the core component 臣 remains.

Meaning mnemonic

The outside 茂 suggests a covering, and inside 臣 looks like a servant guarding something. Picture a servant hiding goods under a thatched roof: a storehouse where things are kept safe and hidden.

Reading mnemonic

For ゾウ, imagine a storehouse filled with a zone of hidden treasures: zone -> ゾウ, and everything is stored away inside.