The kanji 鋳 (chu) primarily means "to cast" or "to mold" metals. It refers to the process of pouring molten metal into a mold to create a desired shape. It also encompasses the resulting product of this process.

・On-yomi (音読み): チュウ (chuu) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): 鋳る (iru)

⚫︎ 鋳造 (chuuzou) Translation: Casting (the process of pouring molten metal) ⚫︎ 鋳物 (imono) Translation: Cast metal product; casting ⚫︎ 鋳型 (igatagata) Translation: Mold (for casting)

The kanji 鋳 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It combines the metal radical (金, kane, kin) on the left, which signifies "metal", and the phonetic component (主, shu) on the right, which suggests the sound and originally meant "master" or "main". The combination suggests the creation of something of metal, hence, "to cast". The etymology suggests the act of creating something with a master or model.