留 means “stay, keep”
りゅう · ryuu
Also: detain, fasten, halt, stop
- Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
- とめる, とまる, とどめる, とどまる, るうぶる
- On'yomi (Chinese reading)
- リュウ, ル
JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 5 · 10 strokes
The story
A rice field (田) anchors the bottom of 留, the kanji of staying put. 留学 is staying abroad to study, and 留守 means no one's home, so a 留守番 minds the house or the 留守番電話 takes the call.
Used in 留学 (ryuugaku, study abroad), 留守 (rusu, being away from home), and 書留 (kakitome, registered mail)
More from Coming & Going
- 散 scatter
- 浮 float
- 戻 go back
- 越 cross over
- 到 arrive
- 連 take along
- 向 face
- 放 release
- 残 remain
- 追 chase
- 落 fall
- 退 retreat
Learn 留 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji
Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.