The kanji 兼 generally means "to combine," "to hold concurrently," "to serve two or more roles," or "both." It implies the simultaneous possession or execution of two or more things. It can suggest a combination, a duality, or the ability to do multiple things at once.

・On-yomi (音読み): ケン (ken) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): かね (kane)

⚫︎ 兼業 Translation: side business; concurrent employment. ⚫︎ 兼ねて Translation: also; concurrently; as well. ⚫︎ 社長兼部長 Translation: President and Department Manager (holding both positions).

The kanji 兼 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side depicts a hand holding something 又(又 is now simplified as 又), and the right side is 一 (one). This suggests the idea of "holding two things together with one hand" (or "one"). Over time, the character evolved to represent the concept of combining or serving multiple functions.