The kanji 之 primarily signifies "of," "this," or acts as a possessive particle, similar to the English "of" or "'s". It connects two nouns, indicating belonging, relationship, or origin. It can also indicate a demonstrative pronoun.

・On-yomi (音読み): シ (shi) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): の (no)

⚫︎ 私の本之 Translation: My book of/My book ⚫︎ それ之 Translation: This/That (referring to something previously mentioned) ⚫︎ 先生之車 Translation: The teacher's car

The kanji 之 is a pictograph. It depicts a sprout or the roots of a plant. Over time, it developed the meaning "this" or "of" through association. The original meaning relates to a sprout, which is a new beginning, which relates to the connection or a reference to something.