# 礎 — cornerstone

礎 means “cornerstone”. It is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 18 strokes. On'yomi: ソ (so). Kun'yomi: いしずえ (ishizue). You'll see it in words such as 礎 (ishizue, “foundation stone; cornerstone”).

- Meaning: cornerstone
- On'yomi: ソ (so)
- Kun'yomi: いしずえ (ishizue)
- Strokes: 18
- Level: JLPT N1 · set Buildings & rooms 1

## How to remember 礎

Parts: 石 stone · 林 grove · 疋 foot

## Words with 礎

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 礎 | いしずえ (ishizue) | foundation stone; cornerstone |

## Don't confuse it with

[磨](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/scrub/)

## More in the “Buildings & rooms 1” set

[房](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/chamber/) · [邸](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/mansion/) · [倉](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/granary/) · [舎](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/lodge/) · [礎](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/cornerstone/) · [棟](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/ridge-of-a-roof/) · [舗](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/store/) · [荘](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/villa/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/cornerstone/. Last updated 2026-11-01.