The kanji 襲 generally conveys the idea of "to attack," "to raid," "to invade," or "to assault." It implies a sudden and forceful action, often involving a surprise attack or an unexpected event. It can also mean "to inherit" or "to succeed" in the sense of taking on a role or tradition.

・On-yomi (音読み): シュウ (shū) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): おそ-う (oso-u)

⚫︎ 襲撃 (shūgeki) Translation: Attack; raid; assault ⚫︎ 襲う (osou) Translation: To attack; to raid; to fall upon ⚫︎ 世襲 (seshū) Translation: Hereditary; succession

The kanji 襲 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), or a phono-semantic compound character. The left side is the radical 衣 (koromo, clothes), and the right side is 龍 (ryū, dragon) which is also used phonetically to indicate the sound. The original meaning relates to clothes that are put on one after another, or layering clothes. This later evolved to mean a sudden action or attack, akin to being enveloped or overtaken by something. The act of wearing multiple layers of clothing also metaphorically represents overlapping or repeating actions, linking it to the ideas of inheritance or succession.