The kanji 塚 primarily means "mound," "hill," "tumulus," or "grave." It refers to an elevated area of earth, often artificial, and frequently associated with burial or memorial sites.

・On-yomi (音読み): チョウ (chō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): つか (tsuka)

⚫︎ 古墳塚 Translation: ancient tomb; tumulus ⚫︎ 墓塚 Translation: grave; tomb ⚫︎ 小塚 Translation: small mound; small hill

The kanji 塚 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The left side is the radical 土 (つち, tsuchi), meaning "earth" or "ground", indicating the meaning. The right side is 冢, which is used for its sound and it also conveys the meaning of "mound" or "hill." Therefore, 塚 combines the meaning of "earth" with the sound and also the meaning of the component to create a character that signifies an earthen mound or hill, especially a burial mound.