The kanji 相 primarily conveys the idea of "mutual," "together," "each other," or "appearance/look." It suggests a relationship or interaction between two or more things or people, or it can describe the outward presentation of something.

・On-yomi (音読み): そう (sō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): あい (ai)

⚫︎相手 (あいて) Translation: opponent, the other party ⚫︎相談 (そうだん) Translation: consultation, discussion ⚫︎首相 (しゅしょう) Translation: prime minister

The kanji 相 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is a simplified form of 目 (め, eye), indicating the "look" or "appearance." The right side is 木 (き, tree) but functions as a phonetic component, lending the sound "sō." The original meaning was likely "to look at each other" or "to observe mutually," gradually extending to encompass ideas of reciprocity and appearance.