The kanji 加 primarily means "to add," "to increase," "to join," or "to apply." It conveys the idea of augmenting, supplementing, or contributing something to something else. It implies an action of bringing something in or on.

・On-yomi (音読み): カ (ka) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): くわ（える） (kuwa(eru)) - to add, to join; くわ（わる） (kuwa(waru)) - to be added, to join

⚫︎参加（さんか） Translation: Participation ⚫︎増加（ぞうか） Translation: Increase; Augmentation ⚫︎加える（くわえる） Translation: To add (something)

The kanji 加 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字 - keisei moji). The left side is the radical 力（ちから） (chikara), meaning "power" or "strength". The right side 口（くち） (kuchi), meaning "mouth" or "opening". It evolved from the idea of "to use strength to add something to your mouth." This character suggests adding something with force, effort, or by using strength. Later, its meaning broadened to encompass the general concept of adding or increasing.