The kanji 往往 primarily conveys the core meaning of "to go," "to proceed," "to travel," or "to go and come back." It implies a movement in a specific direction or the act of going somewhere. It emphasizes the concept of going or traveling, often with a sense of distance or duration involved.

・On-yomi (音読み): オウ (ō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ゆ往く (iku) - to go; い往ぬ (inu) - to have gone

⚫︎ 往復 (おうふく) Translation: Round trip; to and fro. ⚫︎ 往来 (おうらい) Translation: Coming and going; traffic. ⚫︎ 往診 (おうしん) Translation: Home visit (by a doctor).

The kanji 往往 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is the radical 彳, which is the "walking" radical (also known as ぎょうにんべん) and provides a semantic clue, suggesting movement or going. The right side is 王, which is a phonetic component, providing a sound clue of "ou" (like in On-yomi オウ), and originally meant "king." It is speculated that "king" symbolized someone in a procession, hence associating it with movement. The combination of the walking radical with the phonetic component of king provides the concept of movement in a specific direction.