賊 means “bandit, rebel”

ぞく · zoku

Also: burglar, traitor, robber

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ゾク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

Treasure (貝) and a halberd (戈): picture an armed band raiding a treasury. 賊 is the bandit or rebel: 海賊 are pirates, and the saying 勝てば官軍、負ければ賊軍 says the winners become the loyal army and the losers the rebels.

Used in 海賊 (kaizoku, pirate), 盗賊 (touzoku, bandit/thief), and 山賊 (sanzoku, mountain bandit)

More from Thieves & Swindlers

• 賂 bribe
• 拉 abduct
• 偽 fake
• 唆 suggest
• 賄 bribe
• 謀 plot
• 虐 cruelty
• 拐 kidnap
• 詐 fraud
• 欺 deceive
• 殴 hit
• 窃 steal

Learn 賊 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.