The kanji 賊 generally conveys the idea of "thief," "robber," or "pirate." It represents someone who unlawfully takes something from others, often through force or stealth. The core meaning focuses on the act of stealing and the associated negative connotations of lawlessness and criminality.

・On-yomi (音読み): ゾク (zoku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ぞく (zoku)

⚫︎ 海賊 (kaizoku) Translation: Pirate ⚫︎ 賊軍 (zokugun) Translation: Rebel army; enemy forces ⚫︎ 強盗 (goutou) Translation: Robber; burglar

The kanji 賊 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. The character is composed of two parts: 　 ⚫︎ The radical 　貝 (kai) which represents "shell" or "treasure" (and by extension, "wealth" or "property"). ⚫︎ The phonetic component 則 (soku) which provides the sound and conveys the meaning of "rule" or "standard" but also relates to "violating" or "going against." Therefore, the combination suggests the idea of someone who takes property against the rules, or who violates the law to steal wealth, fitting the meaning of a thief or robber.