The kanji 親 primarily represents "parent," "relative," or "intimacy." It embodies the concepts of closeness, familial ties, and the role of someone who cares for or supports another. It signifies a fundamental relationship built on care, responsibility, and sometimes, a position of authority or guidance. It can refer to parents, but also extends to other close relationships that share these qualities.

・On-yomi (音読み): シン (shin) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): おや (oya), した（しい） (shitashii)

⚫︎ 親（おや） Translation: parent ⚫︎ 親切（しんせつ） Translation: kind; friendly; considerate ⚫︎ 親友（しんゆう） Translation: close friend

The kanji 親 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is a component that looks similar to 木, but is not the same kanji, and originally showed a tree. The right side is 見, meaning "to see." The original meaning was "to see (observe) a tree's growth." Later, it shifted to mean "close" or "intimate" because observing the growth of a tree is a close experience, and the meaning of "parent" or "relative" came from the closeness between parents and children.