The kanji 彫 (ちょう) primarily signifies "to carve," "to engrave," or "to sculpt." It implies the act of removing material from a solid surface, such as stone, wood, or metal, to create a form, design, or inscription. This process often involves the use of tools to shape or decorate something. The core concept centers around the act of skillfully shaping a material.

・On-yomi (音読み): ちょう (chou) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): 彫る (ほ彫る) (horu)

⚫︎ 彫刻 (ちょうこく) Translation: Sculpture, carving ⚫︎ 木彫り (きぼり) Translation: Wood carving ⚫︎ 名彫師 (めいちょうし) Translation: Master carver, skilled engraver

The kanji 彫 (ちょう) is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The left side is a radical called ⺇ (しんにょう, shinnyou), which is related to actions. The right side is a phonetic component, 攸 (ゆう, yuu), which suggests the sound and possibly the meaning of "to carve." Originally, it showed a person manipulating an object with a tool to make the form or design.