master · main

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 主 has five strokes and refers to an owner or a central element.
• Basic usage: 主, read ぬし, means an owner or master; 主に, read おもに, means mainly.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Owner and husband
  • 主人, read しゅじん, can mean an owner or a husband depending on context.
  • 宿の主人 is an innkeeper. Not every occurrence of 主人 means husband.
• Mainly and only
  • 主に会議に使う means to use something mainly for meetings.
  • 主に indicates the predominant use, not that every other use is excluded.
• Leading role and ownership
  • 主役, read しゅやく, means a leading role or central character.
  • 野菜が主役だ figuratively makes vegetables the star of a dish, not its owner.