私立

しりつ · shiritsu · JLPT N2 · noun

private

🏫 私 (private) + 立 (establish): founded privately, not by the state

Same 立 as 独立 (independent, standing alone). 私立学校 = private school. The opposite is 公立 (公 = public, state-run).

立 — person standing on ground (大 over 一)
Pictograph of a person standing with arms outstretched on the ground line below. The original oracle bone form clearly shows a frontal human figure planted on the earth. The core meaning 'to stand' extended to 'establish, set up, erect.'

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