The kanji 狩 primarily conveys the meaning of "hunting" or "to hunt." It refers to the act of pursuing and capturing wild animals for food, sport, or other purposes. The character encapsulates the idea of seeking out and taking game in a natural environment.

・On-yomi (音読み): シュ (shu) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): か（り） (kari)

⚫︎狩猟（しゅりょう） Translation: hunting; the act of hunting ⚫︎狩りに出かける（かりにでかける） Translation: to go hunting ⚫︎狩人（かりうど） Translation: hunter

The kanji 狩 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It is comprised of two parts: a radical (部首, bushu) and a phonetic component (音符, onpu). ⚫︎ The radical is "犬" (inu, meaning dog) or "犭" (kemono-hen), which is a simplified form of 犬 and indicates an animal or related activity. ⚫︎ The phonetic component is "守" (shu, meaning to protect, guard). The original meaning of 狩 was to watch over animals or to guard their territory, and thus the phonetic component "守" was used for the sound. It evolved over time to encompass the meaning of hunting. The meaning of guarding was then extended to encompass the act of protecting the animal, not only the territory.