The kanji 廉 primarily conveys the idea of "honesty," "integrity," "cheap," or "low price." It often implies a sense of uprightness, fairness, and being free from corruption or wrongdoing. Additionally, it can also refer to something that is not excessive, and affordable.

・On-yomi (音読み): レン (ren) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): かど (kado) - in some very specific contexts, meaning "corner". This is not a common reading.

⚫︎清廉潔白 Translation: Integrity and honesty; spotless integrity. ⚫︎廉価 Translation: Low price; cheap. ⚫︎廉直な人 Translation: A person of integrity; an honest person.

The kanji 廉 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). The left side is the radical 广 (まだれ, "house; building") and the right side is 兼 (けん, meaning "both; simultaneously" or, phonetically, "ren"). The original meaning may have related to the idea of a house where everything is open and visible, hence transparent and honest. The phonetic component 兼 contributes the sound "ren". Over time, the meaning evolved to encompass honesty, fairness, and low cost.