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)
More from Rest & Unrest
- 穏 calm
- 粛 solemn
- 鎮 calm
- 寧 polite
- 憩 rest
- 睡 sleep
- 悠 leisurely
- 閑 quiet
- 醒 awaken
- 緊 tense
- 緩 loose
- 騒 make noise
Learn 黙 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji
Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.