The kanji 住 primarily conveys the idea of "to live," "to reside," or "to dwell." It represents the concept of inhabiting a place, establishing a home, or existing in a specific location. It suggests a state of being settled or established somewhere.

・On-yomi (音読み): ジュウ (juu) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): す(む) (su(mu))

⚫︎ 住所 (juusho) Translation: Address ⚫︎ 住む (sumu) Translation: To live; to reside ⚫︎ 居住 (kyojuu) Translation: Residence; living

The kanji 住 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). The semantic component is 人 (hito), meaning "person," and the phonetic component is 主 (shu), which suggests the sound and originally meant "master" or "owner." The original meaning of this kanji can be thought of as a person in a place, therefore "dwelling." Over time, the meaning shifted to represent the state of living in a place.