锢 (gù): to confine; to shut in; to impr…

Meanings

1 to confine; to shut in; to imprison
2 to fill or seal a gap with molten metal

Characters

锢

gù

to confine; seal

Examples

旧习俗早已禁锢了他们的思想。

Jiù xísú zǎoyǐ jìngù le tāmen de sīxiǎng.

Old conventions had long shackled their thinking.

犯人被单独禁锢起来。

Fànrén bèi dāndú jìngù qǐlái.

The prisoner was held in solitary confinement.

Tips

usage

Common in 禁锢, to lock away physically or, more often, to shackle the mind with rigid ideas. The literal sense is sealing a hole with molten metal.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal

The metal radical (left-side form of 金) reflects the original sense: pouring molten metal to seal a gap, which broadens to firmly shutting something in.

phonetic

固 gù

firm; solid

Supplies the reading gù and reinforces the meaning: 固 means firm and fixed, exactly the rigidity of being shut in or shackled.

Stroke Order

锢 gù

Related Words

禁锢 jìngù #15,561

to confine / to imprison / to shackle / to fetter

关闭 guānbì HSK 4 #2,087

to close; to shut / to shut down; to close down

填空 tiánkòng HSK 4 #49,856

fill in the blank / to fill a gap

禁 jìn #4,360

to prohibit; to forbid / to imprison; to confine / taboo; prohibition; ban

填 tián HSK 4 #2,514

to fill in; to fill out / to stuff; to cram

囚禁 qiújìn #7,391

to imprison; to hold captive / to confine; to incarcerate

灌 guàn HSK 7-9 #5,182

to pour; to irrigate / to fill; to force-feed

关门 guānmén #2,714

to close the door / to shut down / to go out of business

关掉 guāndiào HSK 7-9 #2,047

to turn off; to switch off / to shut down

密封 mìfēng HSK 7-9 #8,276

to seal; to seal airtight / hermetically sealed