嗣 means “heir, successor”

し · shi

Also: succeed

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

シ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

A mouth (口) reading from a register (冊) before an official (司): picture an heir's name read out at court. 嗣 is the heir who carries a house on, a formal word met in histories, and in men's names it reads つぐ, as in the painter 藤田嗣治, Fujita Tsuguharu.

Used in 嗣子 (shishi, heir) and 後嗣 (koushi, heir/successor)

More from Kin & Cradle

• 哺 nurse
• 戚 relatives
• 氏 family name
• 系 lineage
• 郎 son
• 継 inherit
• 誕 birth
• 妊 pregnant
• 稚 young
• 嫁 bride
• 娠 pregnancy
• 胎 womb

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