The kanji 腹（はら） primarily means "stomach," "belly," or "abdomen." It refers to the part of the body where the digestive organs are located. This core meaning extends to encompass related ideas such as inner feelings, intentions, and sometimes even the "inside" or "core" of something.

・On-yomi (音読み): ふく (fuku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): はら (hara)

⚫︎お腹腹がすきました。 Translation: I'm hungry. ⚫︎腹腹を立てる。 Translation: To get angry; to lose one's temper. ⚫︎腹腹黒い。 Translation: Malicious; scheming (literally "black-bellied").

The kanji 腹 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The radical 月 (つき, tsuki), which is the simplified form of 肉 (にく, niku), meaning "meat" or "flesh," is on the left side, indicating the body part. The right side is a phonetic component 복 (bok in Korean), which provides the sound and hints at the meaning. This combination originally depicted a person's abdomen, illustrating the physical aspect of the character. Over time, the meaning expanded to include internal feelings and intentions.