The kanji 虐 means "cruelty," "oppression," "abuse," or "tyranny." It conveys the idea of causing pain, suffering, or harm to someone, often through unfair or violent actions. This includes both physical and emotional harm. It suggests a power imbalance where one person or group inflicts harm on another.

・On-yomi (音読み): ギャク (gyaku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): しいた.げる (shiita.geru), しいた.げ (shiita.ge)

⚫︎ 虐待 (gyakutai) Translation: Abuse; maltreatment; ill-treatment ⚫︎ 虐殺 (gyakusatsu) Translation: Massacre; slaughter; butchery ⚫︎ 動物虐待 (doubutsu gyakutai) Translation: Animal abuse

The kanji 虐 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. It is composed of two parts: the radical 虍 (tora no kawa), meaning "tiger" or "tiger skin," representing a fierce animal, and the phonetic component 各 (kaku), which contributes to the sound and subtly to the meaning of individual elements. The combination suggests the idea of a fierce animal attacking, hence the meaning of cruelty and oppression. The character historically evolved to represent actions associated with aggressive behavior and the inflicting of harm.