The kanji 挿 primarily conveys the meaning of "to insert," "to put in," or "to stick in." It implies the action of placing something into something else, often with a slight push or placement. This can apply to physical objects or more abstract concepts.

・On-yomi (音読み): ソウ (sou) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): さ(す) (sa(su))

⚫︎ 挿入 (そうにゅう) Translation: Insertion, to insert, to put in ⚫︎ 挿絵 (さしえ) Translation: Illustration, picture, drawing (inserted into a text) ⚫︎ 挿し木 (さしき) Translation: Cutting (a method of propagating plants by inserting a cutting into the soil)

The kanji 挿 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいいもじ). The left side is a radical called 手 (て, "te") which means "hand," and it provides a semantic element indicating the action of inserting or putting something in. The right side is 妾 (しょう, "shou"), which represents the sound. Therefore, it visually represents the act of using the hand to insert something.