罪 means “crime, sin, guilt”

つみ · tsumi

Also: fault

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つみ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ザイ

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 5 · 13 strokes

The story

A net (罒) thrown over wrongdoing (非): the law catching what is wrong. 罪 is a crime or a sin, 犯罪 a criminal offense, and 謝罪 the formal apology Japanese executives make with a long, deep bow before the cameras.

Used in 罪 (tsumi, crime/sin), 犯罪 (hanzai, crime), and 謝罪 (shazai, apology)

More from Law & Order

• 犯 offense
• 逃 escape
• 盗 steal
• 制 control
• 治 heal
• 権 right
• 規 rule
• 害 harm
• 警 warn
• 守 protect
• 処 deal with
• 殺 kill

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

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