The kanji 免 primarily conveys the idea of "to excuse," "to exempt," "to be free from," or "to avoid." It often implies a release from a duty, obligation, or a negative situation.

・On-yomi (音読み): メン (men) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): まぬか(れる) (manuka(reru)) - to escape, to be exempted; ゆる(す) (yuru(su)) - to forgive, to excuse

⚫︎ 免税 Translation: Tax exemption ⚫︎ 免除 Translation: Exemption; dispensation ⚫︎ 免れる Translation: To escape, to avoid

The kanji 免 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is a component suggesting "head" 自, and the right side is a component representing "people" 人, which is the meaning component. The original meaning of 免 depicted someone avoiding or escaping something, such as an obligation, by withdrawing their head from under it. This visual of withdrawing the head evolved to mean exemption or avoidance, later incorporating the meanings of freedom and forgiveness.