喪 means “mourning, loss”

も · mo

Also: miss

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

も

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ソウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Two wailing mouths (口口) above the hem of a robe (the bottom of 衣): picture mourners crying in plain clothes. 喪服 is black funeral wear, and a family in 喪中, mourning, sends postcards before the year ends to say it will send no New Year cards.

Used in 喪服 (mofuku, mourning clothes), 喪中 (mochuu, period of mourning), and 喪失 (soushitsu, loss)

More from Graves & Mourning

• 墓 grave
• 悼 grieve
• 墳 burial mound
• 弔 mourn
• 忌 shun
• 逝 pass away
• 殉 die for a cause
• 棺 coffin
• 訃 news of a death
• 骸 bones
• 遺 leave behind
• 葬 funeral

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

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