型 - The Prisoners Use Clay MOLDS for this TYPE of Cup

Readings & Meanings:

かた

ケイ

type

Common Usage:

型

模型

Examples:

型にはまった考え。

ケーキの型を買う。

飛行機の模型を作る。

Translations:

A cookie-cutter way of thinking.

I'll buy a cake mold.

I make model airplanes.

Radical:

土, Tsuchi, is our radical, way down on the bottom.

刑 is on top. It means "punish." If you remember 形, you'll see the same "frame" on the left. On the right is 刀, knife, emphasizing that it's an uncomfortable frame, like a prison.

So, when you have a "frame" and confine clay in it, the clay takes on that shape. Hence, it's a mold.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/ka.htm