礁 means “reef”

しょう · shou

Also: sunken rock

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ショウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 17 strokes

The story

Stone (石) beside 焦, a bird (隹) over fire (灬): picture blackened rocks just below the waves. Okinawa is ringed by 珊瑚礁, coral reefs; a ship 座礁する when it runs aground; and talks that 暗礁に乗り上げる have hit a hidden reef.

Used in 珊瑚礁 (sangoshou, coral reef), 座礁 (zashou, running aground), and 暗礁 (anshou, hidden reef; deadlock)

More from Ships & Shores

• 汽 steam
• 藻 seaweed
• 舷 ship's side
• 浜 beach
• 江 inlet
• 浦 inlet
• 津 harbor
• 瀬 rapids
• 潮 tide
• 艦 warship
• 艇 small boat
• 搭 embark

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