The kanji 放 primarily conveys the idea of "to release," "to let go," or "to set free." It suggests an action of allowing something to move away from a constraint, a specific location, or a state of being. It implies a departure or dispersal.

・On-yomi (音読み): ホウ ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): はな（す）, はな（つ）

⚫︎ 解放（かいほう） Translation: Liberation; release. ⚫︎ 放送（ほうそう） Translation: Broadcast; to broadcast. ⚫︎ 放課後（ほうかご） Translation: After school.

The kanji 放 is a phono-semantic compound. It combines the radical 方（ほう）, which originally represented a boat or raft, and the radical 攵（ぼく・のぶん）, which is a variant of 攴（ぼく） and indicates action or movement. Therefore, the kanji originally suggested the idea of releasing something, letting it drift away like a boat. Over time, the meaning broadened to encompass the more general concept of releasing or letting go of something.