The kanji 社 primarily means "company," "shrine," or "society." It encompasses concepts related to a place of worship, a group of people, or an organized entity. The core meaning revolves around a place where people gather for a specific purpose, whether religious or secular.

・On-yomi (音読み): シャ 社 ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None.

⚫︎ 会社（かいしゃ） Translation: Company ⚫︎ 神社（じんじゃ） Translation: Shrine ⚫︎ 社会（しゃかい） Translation: Society

The kanji 社 is a phono-semantic compound. The left side is the radical 示（しめす、demonstrates). 示is a radical that originally represented an altar or a place of worship, later expanded to indicate things related to spirits, religion, and the supernatural. The right side of 社 is 土（つち、earth, soil), which acts as the phonetic component, implying the sound "sha." Together, the components suggest a place (土) for worship or a place related to the deities (示). Over time, its meaning expanded to include wider gatherings of people, like a company or society.