窒 means “block, suffocate, nitrogen”

ちつ · chitsu

Also: plug up, obstruct

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

チツ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A hole (穴) with 至, arrive, packed inside: picture something reaching a cave mouth and plugging it shut. 窒息 is suffocation, and 窒素, nitrogen, translates Dutch stikstof, "suffocating stuff", since no animal can live on it alone.

Used in 窒素 (chisso, nitrogen) and 窒息 (chissoku, suffocation)

More from Atoms & Acids

• 硫 sulfur
• 硝 saltpeter
• 核 nucleus
• 素 element
• 析 analyze
• 酸 acid
• 粘 sticky
• 鉛 lead (metal)
• 凝 congeal

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

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