黙 means “be silent, silence”

だまる · damaru

Also: become silent, stop speaking, leave as is

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
だまる, もだす
On'yomi (Chinese reading)
モク, ボク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 15 strokes

The story

Black (黒) with a dog (犬) squeezed in above its four dots: picture a dark dog lying perfectly still, not making a sound. 黙る is to fall silent, 沈黙 is silence, and each March 11 Japan stops for a 黙とう, a moment of silent prayer.

Used in 黙る (damaru, to be silent), 沈黙 (chinmoku, silence), and 黙認 (mokunin, tacit approval)

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