U+7AC3 "竃" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character

U+7AC3 "竃" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a traditional Chinese character and a component of the Japanese kanji that fundamentally means "stove," "oven," or "kitchen range," often referring to a place for cooking or a hearth. This ideograph is closely related in meaning to its more common variant "竈" and is used in contexts involving culinary infrastructure, such as in the term "竃の神" (kamado no kami), the Japanese kitchen god. While less frequently encountered in modern simplified Chinese, where it is often replaced by "灶," the character maintains its presence in classical texts, historical writings, and specific proper nouns, particularly in Japanese surnames and place names. Its structure combines the radical for "cave" or "hole" (穴) with components suggesting earth and construction, evoking the ancient image of a cooking pit or an earthen stove.