ぐすく・ぐしく【御城・御塞・城】 : gusuku · gushiku | define meaning

Derived from the honorific prefix ぐ【御】 gu- and the term すく【塞】 suku "fortress". Attested in the Omoro Saushi (1531-1623). Cognate to modern Japanese そく【塞】 soku "blockage". Ultimately from Chinese 【塞】 "block; fortress" (cf. Cantonese sak1 or choi3; Mandarin sāi, sài and sè; Vietnamese tắc or tái; Korean 색 saek and 새 sae), and thus also cognate to the Japanese variant さい sai "fort, fortress". The kanji variant 【城】 is employed by conflation with the Japanese term for castle, しろ【城】 shiro.