The kanji 稿 primarily means "draft," "manuscript," or "rough copy." It refers to a preliminary version of written material before it is finalized. It also relates to a stalk or straw, often used in the context of rice or other grains.

・On-yomi (音読み): こう (kō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): - (None, but sometimes associated with words related to rice stalks)

⚫︎原稿 Translation: Manuscript; original manuscript ⚫︎草稿 Translation: Draft; rough draft ⚫︎投稿 Translation: Submission (of an article, etc.)

The kanji 稿 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). It is composed of the radical 禾 (ノギ, rice plant) on the left, which gives a semantic indication, and 高 (たか, tall, high) on the right, which provides the phonetic element, indicating the sound こう (kō). Originally, the character likely depicted a grain stalk and evolved to represent written drafts or copies, perhaps due to the visual association of lines or rows.