The kanji 批 primarily conveys the meaning of "criticize," "judge," or "condemn." It implies an evaluation, often negative, of something or someone. It can also relate to the act of "striking" or "beating," representing a physical action alongside the conceptual act of judgment.

・On-yomi (音読み): ヒ (hi) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): つ（き） (tsu(ki)) - meaning "to hit" or "to strike". This reading is less commonly used.

⚫︎批判（ひはん） Translation: Criticism, critique ⚫︎批難（ひなん） Translation: Censure, blame, reproach ⚫︎批正（ひせい） Translation: Correction, approval (in the sense of judging and fixing something)

The kanji 批 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is the radical 手 (て - te), which means "hand." The right side is 比 (ひ - hi), which provides the sound and contributes to the meaning, representing comparison or judgment. Therefore, the character conveys the idea of using the hand (or action) to judge or criticize something.