The kanji 涯 (gai) primarily conveys the concept of an "edge," "border," "limit," or "horizon." It signifies a boundary, the furthest extent of something, or a point beyond which something ceases. It suggests a sense of reaching the end of a physical or metaphorical space.

・On-yomi (音読み): ガイ (gai) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): はて (hate)

⚫︎人生の涯 Translation: The end of one's life. ⚫︎無涯 Translation: Boundless; limitless; without end. ⚫︎海涯 Translation: The edge of the sea; seashore.

The kanji 涯 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound. It combines the semantic component 氵 (san-zu, the water radical), which suggests a relationship with water or liquids, with the phonetic component 厓 (gai), which represents the sound and a related meaning. 厓 itself means "cliff" or "edge." Thus, the original meaning of 涯 related to the edge or limit of a body of water, eventually extending to a more general sense of "edge," "limit," or "horizon."