surround, besiege, store, paling, enclosure, encircle, preserve, keep
囲 centers on forming a boundary around something: surrounding, encircling, or enclosing. The ideas of storing, preserving, or keeping something safe follow naturally from enclosing it within a protective space.
囲 is the modern simplified form of 圍. The older form combines 囗 (enclosure) with 韋, which likely contributed the sound and the idea of surrounding. The modern form replaces 韋 with 井, a simplification that keeps the enclosure meaning but obscures the original phonetic component.
The outer 囗 is a fence or boundary, and inside is 井, which looks like a grid or well. Picture a well surrounded by a fence to protect and preserve the water: 囲 means to surround and keep safe.
For イ, imagine an eagle (イーグル) circling and surrounding its prey: eagle -> イ, and the eagle's flight encircles the area.
atmosphere; mood; ambience; ambiance; aura; feel
extent; scope; sphere; range; span
surroundings; environs
to surround; to encircle; to enclose; to fence; to wall in
siege; encirclement; envelopment; surrounding; besiegement
extensive; vast range; wide scope
go (board game)
enclosure; fence; wall; pen; paling
to enclose; to surround; to encircle; to fence; to wall in
enclosure; box
to surround; to crowd around; to gather around; to encircle; to besiege
enclosure; coralling; penning
chest measurement
sunken hearth; sunken fireplace
siege
ABCD encirclement (embargoes against Japan by America, Britain, China, and the Dutch starting in 1940)
ABCD encirclement (embargoes against Japan by America, Britain, China, and the Dutch starting in 1940)
Siege of Fort Ticonderoga (1777)
ponnuki go; first-capture go; atari go; go variant where whoever first captures one or more stones wins
circle of acquaintance