窃 means “steal, theft”

せつ · setsu

Also: stealth, secret, private

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ぬすむ, ひそか

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セツ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

Cutting (切) a hole (穴) to get in: picture a burglar sawing through a wall by night. 窃 is stealing: 窃盗 is theft in police reports, the charge even a shoplifter faces, and 剽窃 is stealing someone's words, plagiarism.

Used in 窃盗 (settou, theft), 窃盗犯 (settouhan, thief), and 剽窃 (hyousetsu, plagiarism)

More from Thieves & Swindlers

• 賊 bandit
• 賂 bribe
• 拉 abduct
• 偽 fake
• 唆 suggest
• 賄 bribe
• 謀 plot
• 虐 cruelty
• 拐 kidnap
• 詐 fraud
• 欺 deceive
• 殴 hit

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

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