Meaning
卒 shows up most often in one place: 卒業. That compound — graduation — is what most learners encounter first, and with good reason. Every March, Japanese schools hold 卒業式, and the word is everywhere.
Older roots are military. 卒 originally named the lowest rank of foot soldier — an ordinary conscript, identifiable by a marked uniform. That sense survives in 兵卒 (private, foot soldier), though you're unlikely to hear it in daily conversation.
A third meaning centers on sudden collapse. 卒倒 (to faint) and 脳卒中 (cerebral stroke) both carry the sense of something happening without warning. The ソッ pronunciation — a geminate form — tends to signal this older, more dramatic meaning.
Visually, 卒 traces back to a pictograph of a person wearing stitched or marked clothing: the uniform of a Chinese conscript. When soldiers completed their service, the kanji took on the meaning of finishing. Academic graduation followed the same logic — a formal end to a structured period of duty. 卒 is a Grade 4 Joyo kanji, 8 strokes, under the radical 十.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
The sole on'yomi is ソツ. It covers every common compound. Before certain sounds, ソツ becomes ソッ (geminate), giving you the double consonant in words like 卒倒 and 脳卒中.
ソツ compounds — education and completion:
- 卒業 (sotsugyō) — graduation
- 卒論 (sotsuron) — graduation thesis
- 卒業式 (sotsugyōshiki) — graduation ceremony
ソッ compounds — sudden action and military:
- 卒倒 (sottō) — sudden collapse; fainting
- 脳卒中 (nōsocchū) — cerebral stroke
- 兵卒 (heisotsu) — foot soldier; private
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
卒 has no kun'yomi. Its meanings — soldier, graduation, sudden collapse — arrived from Chinese and never attached to existing native Japanese words. For JLPT N2, ソツ and its compounds are all you need.
Common Words & Compounds
The vocabulary splits into three groups: education, medical, and military or literary.
Education & Career
- 卒業 (sotsugyō) — graduation
- 卒業式 (sotsugyōshiki) — graduation ceremony
- 卒業生 (sotsugyōsei) — graduate; alumnus/alumna
- 卒業証書 (sotsugyō shōsho) — diploma
- 卒論 (sotsuron) — graduation thesis
- 新卒 (shinsotsu) — new graduate; entry-level job applicant
- 既卒 (kisotsu) — non-new graduate; someone who graduated but is still job-hunting
Medical & Physical
- 卒倒 (sottō) — sudden collapse; fainting
- 脳卒中 (nōsocchū) — cerebral stroke
Military, Classical & Literary
- 兵卒 (heisotsu) — foot soldier; private
- 卒先 (ossen) — taking the lead; going first
- 卒然 (sotsuzen) — suddenly; abruptly (literary register)
Example Sentences
彼女は来年大学を卒業する予定です。
Kanojo wa rainen daigaku wo sotsugyō suru yotei desu.
She is scheduled to graduate from university next year.
卒業式の日、彼は涙を流した。
Sotsugyōshiki no hi, kare wa namida wo nagashita.
On the day of the graduation ceremony, he shed tears.
新卒として大手の会社に入社しました。
Shinsotsu to shite ōte no kaisha ni nyūsha shimashita.
I joined a major company as a new graduate.
祖父は脳卒中で入院しています。
Sofu wa nōsocchū de nyūin shite imasu.
My grandfather is hospitalized due to a cerebral stroke.
暑さで卒倒しそうになった。
Atsusa de sottō shi-sō ni natta.
I nearly fainted from the heat.
卒論のテーマがなかなか決まらない。
Sotsuron no tēma ga nakanaka kimaranai.
I just can't settle on a topic for my graduation thesis.
彼は卒業してから五年が経った。
Kare wa sotsugyō shite kara gonen ga tatta.
Five years have passed since he graduated.
既卒でも応募できる求人が増えている。
Kisotsu demo ōbo dekiru kyūjin ga fuete iru.
Job listings open to non-new graduates are on the rise.
彼女は卒業証書を大切に保管している。
Kanojo wa sotsugyō shōsho wo taisetsu ni hokan shite iru.
She keeps her diploma carefully stored away.
部長は卒先して仕事に取り組む。
Buchō wa ossen shite shigoto ni torikumu.
The department head leads the way when tackling work.
Memory Tip
The top of 卒 looks like a cap sitting on a person's head — a graduation cap. The bottom 十 (ten) suggests a perfect finish: ten out of ten, done. Put them together: someone in a cap, standing at the finish line. One image, three meanings: soldier, graduate, complete.
Vietnamese learners have a shortcut: tốt nghiệp (卒業) is everyday Vietnamese for graduation. The Hán-Việt reading TỐT is a direct cognate — the kanji is already familiar before you've studied it.