The kanji 昂 primarily conveys the meanings of "high," "to rise," "to raise," or "to be proud/spirited." It often implies a sense of elevation, either physically or metaphorically, such as the rising of something or a person's elevated state of mind.

・On-yomi (音読み): コウ (kō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): あ（がる） (a(garu)) - to rise, to go up

⚫︎ 意気昂揚 Translation: High spirits; Enthusiasm ⚫︎ 物価昂騰 Translation: Price rise ⚫︎ 昂然と Translation: Proudly; With an air of confidence

The kanji 昂 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. The character is composed of the radical 日 (ni, hi - sun) on the left side and 句 (ku) on the right side. The radical 日 (ni, hi - sun) suggests "light" or "brightness". The 句 (ku) part provides the phonetic component, indicating the sound and suggesting the meaning of "rise" or "lift up". Therefore, the combination of these two elements implies something that is lifted up, shining brightly, or rising.