company, shrine
On'yomi (音読み)
- シャ
- ジャ
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- やしろ
About this kanji
The kanji 「社」 primarily means "company" or "shrine." In everyday usage, it's often found in nouns like 会社 (かいしゃ), which means "company," and 社会 (しゃかい), meaning "society." Another common compound is 神社 (じんじゃ), referring to a "shrine" in the Shinto religion, where people go to pray. The native reading of this kanji is やしろ, usually used when referring to a shrine. A notable usage note is that while it can refer to a company, in a business context, people often more specifically use 会社 when they mean a corporate entity, distinguishing it from its other meanings.
Built from
Example sentences
新しい社に勤め始めた。
I started working at a new company.
Meanings across languages
- English
- company, shrine
- Tiếng Việt
- công ty, đền thờ
- 日本語
- 会社, 神社
- 한국어
- 회사, 신사
- 中文
- 公司, 神社
- id
- perusahaan, kuil
- th
- บริษัท, ศาลเจ้า
- es
- empresa, templo
- fr
- entreprise, sanctuaire
- de
- Unternehmen, Schrein
- pt
- empresa, santuário
Common compounds
- 会社かいしゃcompany, corporation
- 社会しゃかいsociety
- 神社じんじゃshrine
- 社長しゃちょうcompany president, manager
Want to actually learn this kanji?
The dictionary is one view. The Kanji 360 app wraps every character with mnemonic images, audio readings, stroke-order animation, story context, and SRS scheduling — free to start on iPhone, iPad, and Android.