主

主 U+4E3B, 主 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E3B ← 为 [U+4E3A] CJK Unified Ideographs 丼 → [U+4E3C]

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Stroke order

主 (Kangxi radical 3, 丶+4, 5 strokes, cangjie input 卜土 (YG), four-corner 0010₄, composition ⿱丶王 or ⿱亠土)

• 住, 𠰍, 𡊲, 妵, 往, 拄, 注, 㹥, 迬, 柱, 炷, 𤖸, 砫, 紸 (𰬇), 蛀, 註, 䝬, 跓, 軴, 鉒 (𰽯), 䪒, 飳, 駐 (驻), 黈, 𪐴, 殶
• 𰀩, 𠣕, 𦭦, 宔, 疰, 罜, 䇠, 麈, 𮏼, 𮢔, 𮢉

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 80, character 20
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 100
• Dae Jaweon: page 163, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 44, character 3
• Unihan data for U+4E3B

simp. and trad.		主
alternative forms		丶 宔

Pictogram (象形) . Three distinct forms can observed in ancient scripts, all of which have merged into the same character in modern script:

1. A lamp or torch with a flame at the top. Original form of 炷.
2. Wood (木, now 王) on fire.
3. A spirit tablet. Same character as 示.

Unrelated to the right component of 往 (< 𢓸).

Unclear. Compare Tibetan ཇོ་བོ (jo bo, “elder brother, nobleman, lord”), Tibetan ཇོ་མོ (jo mo, “mistress, lady, goddess”), Tibetan ཐུ། (thu, “chief”), Proto-Monic *(d)ndooʔ (“to teach, to instruct; headman”), and Thai โจก (jòok, “leader, chief”) (Schuessler, 2007)

Also compare Burmese အတို့ (a.tui., “honorific personal pronoun”).

主

1. owner; master
2. host
3. (archaic, honorific) you (honorific second-person pronoun addressing a "senior official" [大夫] or his spouse)

   • 季康子問于共父文伯之母曰：「主亦有以語肥也。」對曰：「吾能老而已，何以語子。」康子曰：「雖然，肥愿有聞于主。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     季康子问于共父文伯之母曰：「主亦有以语肥也。」对曰：「吾能老而已，何以语子。」康子曰：「虽然，肥愿有闻于主。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Guoyu, circa 4^th century BCE

     Jì Kāngzǐ wèn yú Gōngfǔ Wénbó zhī mǔ yuē: “Zhǔ yì yǒu yǐ yù Féi yě.” Duìyuē: “Wú néng lǎo éryǐ, héyǐ yù zǐ.” Kāngzǐ yuē: “Suīrán, Féi yuàn yǒu wén yú zhǔ.” [Pinyin]

     Ji Kangzi (Fei) consulted the mother of Gongfu Wenbo: "Would you, madame, have something to instruct me?" "I am only good at growing old. What else can I tell you?" came her reply. "Nevertheless, I, Fei, do want to hear something from you," said Kangzi.

4. (Christianity, Islam) Lord
5. emperor
6. (colloquial, derogatory) person of a specified type
7. agent; agency

   主動／主动  ―  zhǔdòng  ―  active

   主體／主体  ―  zhǔtǐ  ―  subject (one who possesses agency)

   • 夫民，神之主也。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Fú mín, shén zhī zhǔ yě. [Pinyin]

     The people are the agent of divine spirits.

8. party; entity

   事主  ―  shìzhǔ  ―  party (in a dispute, especially the one bringing forth the dispute)

9. main; primary; principal; major

   主要  ―  zhǔyào  ―  main

   主演  ―  zhǔyǎn  ―  leading actor

   主修  ―  zhǔxiū  ―  major curriculum

10. to be in charge; to lead; to command

    主事  ―  zhǔshì  ―  to be in charge

    • 太尉絳侯勃不得入軍中主兵。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      太尉绛侯勃不得入军中主兵。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

      From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

      Tàiwèi Jiànghóu Bó bùdé rù jūnzhōng zhǔ bīng. [Pinyin]

      Grand Marshal Bo the Marquis of Jiang was unable to join with the armies and lead the action.

11. to indicate; to signify
12. (grammar) Short for 主語／主语 (zhǔyǔ).
13. (historical) Short for 公主 (gōngzhǔ).
14. a surname

Others:

• → Proto-Tai: *ɕɤwꟲ (“master”)
  • Lao: ເຈົ້າ (chao, “lord, master, owner”)
  • Thai: เจ้า (jâao, “lord, master, owner”)
• → Vietnamese: chúa (主, “retired father of a king”), Chúa (主, “Lord”)

主

1. Classifier for events.
2. Alternative form of 注 (zhù, “to pour into”)

• “主”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[2], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Shinjitai	主
Kyūjitai [1][2][3]	主󠄁 主+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	主󠄃 主+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

1. lord, master
2. main, principal

• Go-on: す (su, Jōyō ^†)^{←す (su, historical)}
• Kan-on: しゅ (shu, Jōyō)^{←しゆ (syu, historical)}
• Kun: あるじ (aruji, 主)、おも (omo, 主, Jōyō)、ぬし (nushi, 主, Jōyō)、つかさどる (tsukasadoru, 主る)

Kanji in this term
主
しゅ Grade: 3
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 主 (MC tsyuX).

The kan'on pronunciation, so likely a later borrowing.

• (Tokyo) しゅ [shúꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[4]
• IPA^(key): [ɕɨ]

主(しゅ) • (shu) ^{←しゆ (syu)?}

1. head of the family
2. master, mistress
3. one's husband
4. proprietor, landlord

• 主(しゅ)人(じん) (shujin)

主(しゅ) • (Shu) ^{←しゆ (Syu)?}

1. the Lord

   主(しゅ)の兄(きょう)弟(だい)ヤコブ

   Shu no kyōdai Yakobu

   James, brother of the Lord

Kanji in this term
主
ぬし Grade: 3
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 主 – see the following entry.

【ぬし】 [noun] 主: master [noun] 主: owner, proprietor [noun] 主: guardian spirit [noun] 主: (archaic) you

(This term, 主, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Kanji in this term
主
おも Grade: 3
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 主 – see the following entry.

【おも】 [adjective] chief, main, principal, foremost Alternative spelling 重

(This term, 主, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Kanji in this term
主
あるじ Grade: 3
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 主 – see the following entry.

【あるじ】 [noun] head of a household

(This term, 主, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

From Middle Chinese 主 (MC tsyuX). Recorded as Middle Korean 쥬〮 (cyú) (Yale: cyu) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Wikisource

主 (eumhun 임금 주 (imgeum ju))
主 (eumhun 주인 주 (ju'in ju))

1. hanja form^? of 주 (“king”)
2. hanja form^? of 주 (“master; host; main”)

• Naver Hanja Dictionary: 主
• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

主: Hán Việt readings: chủ, chúa
主: Nôm readings: chúa, chủ

1. chữ Hán form of chủ (“owner”).
2. Nôm form of chúa (“retired father of a king”).
3. Nôm form of Chúa (“God; Christ; Lord”).

• Despite being a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading, chúa is still used as Sino-Vietnamese in a few compounds such as Chúa nhật, công chúa, quận chúa, lãnh chúa, Thiên Chúa.

• Chủ nhật (主日)
• chủ quyền (主權)
• chủ tịch (主席)

• Nom Foundation