Meaning
逮 (タイ, TAI) means to apprehend, arrest, or overtake. The core image is a chase — pursuing someone and finally closing the gap. In modern Japanese, 逮 appears almost entirely in one compound: 逮捕 (たいほ), meaning "arrest." Open any crime report or police procedural in Japanese and you will find it immediately.
The character is built from two components. On the left, 辶 (しんにょう) is the movement radical, suggesting roads, travel, and forward motion. On the right sits 隶, an ancient pictograph of a hand grabbing an animal by the tail. Combine movement with grasping and you get 逮: the chase that ends in capture.
At 11 strokes, 逮 is a grade 8 (中学校) kanji — secondary school level, not primary. This reflects its home turf: public administration, law, journalism. JLPT N1 places it among the most advanced characters on the exam, suited to learners aiming for professional or academic fluency.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
逮 has one on'yomi: タイ (tai), from Middle Chinese. It appears almost entirely in Sino-Japanese compounds, and for most learners, 逮捕 (たいほ) will be the first — and most important — encounter with this reading.
- 逮捕 (taiho) — arrest, apprehension: taking a suspect into legal custody. This compound dominates all modern usage of 逮.
- 逮捕状 (taihojō) — arrest warrant: the court order authorizing police to detain a named individual.
- 逮夜 (taiya) — eve of a Buddhist memorial service: an archaic term from classical literature, preserving the older meaning of 逮 as "to reach" or "arrive at a certain time." It reveals a semantic range that extends beyond legal arrest.
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
The kun'yomi およ.ぶ (oyobu) means "to reach" or "catch up with." It barely surfaces in modern Japanese — the verb is almost always written 及ぶ instead. Knowing this reading matters mainly for understanding the kanji's original scope: not just arrest, but the broader idea of closing the distance between pursuer and target.
- 逮ぶ (oyobu) — to reach, to catch up with (classical; modern equivalent written as 及ぶ)
Common Words & Compounds
逮 is narrow by design — it lives almost entirely in legal and law-enforcement vocabulary. These compounds are what let you follow Japanese news coverage of crime and court proceedings.
Core Legal Terms:
- 逮捕 (taiho) — arrest, apprehension: the central compound. Used in formal legal contexts and in everyday speech when a suspect is taken into custody.
- 逮捕状 (taihojō) — arrest warrant: the court order authorizing law enforcement to detain a specific person.
- 逮捕者 (taihosha) — arrested person, detainee: someone placed under arrest and held by police.
- 逮捕歴 (taihoreki) — arrest record: a documented history of prior arrests, relevant in background checks and court proceedings.
Specialized Arrest Terminology:
- 現行犯逮捕 (genkōhan taiho) — flagrante delicto arrest: catching someone in the act. Under Japanese law, no warrant is required.
- 緊急逮捕 (kinkyū taiho) — emergency arrest: made when obtaining a warrant in advance is not practical, subject to post-hoc judicial review.
- 不法逮捕 (fuhō taiho) — unlawful arrest: detention carried out without proper legal authority, constituting a rights violation.
- 逮捕劇 (taihogeki) — dramatic arrest: a journalistic term for a high-profile or live-broadcast arrest situation.
- 逮捕術 (taihojutsu) — arrest techniques: physical restraint and tactical methods used by law enforcement to safely apprehend suspects.
- 指名手配逮捕 (shimei tehai taiho) — arrest of a wanted person: apprehension of someone publicly named in a police wanted notice.
Example Sentences
犯人はその場で逮捕された。
Han'nin wa sono ba de taiho sareta.
The perpetrator was arrested on the spot.
警察は容疑者を逮捕した。
Keisatsu wa yōgisha wo taiho shita.
Police arrested the suspect.
彼は詐欺の容疑で逮捕された。
Kare wa sagi no yōgi de taiho sareta.
He was arrested on suspicion of fraud.
逃走していた容疑者がついに逮捕された。
Tōsō shite ita yōgisha ga tsui ni taiho sareta.
The fleeing suspect was finally caught.
裁判所は容疑者の逮捕状を発行した。
Saibansho wa yōgisha no taihojō wo hakkō shita.
The court issued an arrest warrant for the suspect.
現行犯逮捕は令状なしで行うことができる。
Genkōhan taiho wa reijō nashi de okonau koto ga dekiru.
An arrest in the act can be made without a warrant.
彼女は麻薬の所持で逮捕され、取調べを受けた。
Kanojo wa mayaku no shoji de taiho sare, torishirabe wo uketa.
She was arrested for drug possession and taken in for questioning.
ニュースによると、複数の容疑者が同時に逮捕されたそうだ。
Nyūsu ni yoru to, fukusū no yōgisha ga dōji ni taiho sareta sō da.
According to the news, several suspects were arrested at the same time.
不法な逮捕は市民の基本的権利を侵害する。
Fuhō na taiho wa shimin no kihonteki kenri wo shingai suru.
An unlawful arrest violates citizens' basic rights.
刑事は長年の捜査の末、ようやく主犯格の逮捕に成功した。
Keiji wa naganen no sōsa no sue, yōyaku shuhan-kaku no taiho ni seikō shita.
After years of investigation, the detective finally managed to arrest the ringleader.
Memory Tip
Picture a police officer sprinting down a road — that is 辶 (しんにょう), the movement radical on the left. The right component, 隶, is an ancient image of a hand grabbing an animal by the tail. Someone running (辶) finally seizes their target (隶): that is 逮, the moment of capture.
For the reading, link TAI (タイ) with the English word tie: the officer catches up and ties the suspect's hands. The next time 逮捕 (たいほ) appears in a headline, the chase-and-capture picture comes with it.