The kanji character 住 means "to live," "to reside," or "to dwell." It conveys the idea of inhabiting a place or having one's home in a specific location. It suggests a sense of permanency and establishment.

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

⚫︎住所 (じゅうしょ) Translation: Address ⚫︎住む (すむ) Translation: To live; to reside ⚫︎住人 (じゅうにん) Translation: Resident; inhabitant

The kanji 住 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is a radical called 亻 (ninben), which represents "person" or "human." The right side is 主 (shu), which conveys the sound and meaning of "master" or "main." Therefore, the character originally meant "the main person who lives in a place," evolving to mean "to live" or "to reside." The top portion is simplified roof from the structure "to reside," and the "person" component has been added to it to represent a human.