囚 means “prisoner, captive”

しゅう · shuu

Also: captured, criminal, arrest, catch

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

とらわれる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

シュウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 5 strokes

The story

A person (人) shut inside four walls (囗): one of the plainest pictures in kanji. 囚人 is a prisoner, 死刑囚 an inmate on death row, and 囚われる is to be held captive, even by an idea, as in 固定観念に囚われる.

Used in 囚人 (shuujin, prisoner), 死刑囚 (shikeishuu, death-row inmate), and 囚われる (torawareru, to be held captive)

More from Prisons & Penalties

• 錮 confinement
• 勾 bend
• 逮 arrest
• 刑 penalty
• 罰 punishment
• 懲 punish
• 拘 detain
• 獄 prison
• 偵 spy
• 拷 torture

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

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