锁
suǒ · HSK 5
lock
🔒 sounds like 'so' — so locked up nobody gets in
锁 means lock. The radical 钅 (metal) on the left signals a metal object; the right side 小贝 once hinted at small valuables worth locking away. Mandarin suǒ rhymes with English 'so'.
锁 — metal radical 钅 + 𫔑 (small/phonetic)
锁 means 'lock' or 'chain.' The metal radical 钅 (金) signals a metal object, while the right side originally depicted small linked rings, hinting at both meaning and sound. Early locks were chains of small metal pieces, so the character paints a picture of linked metal.