The kanji 軟 (nan) primarily conveys the idea of "soft," "tender," or "flexible." It describes something that yields easily to pressure or is not rigid. It can also imply gentleness or a lack of resistance.

・On-yomi (音読み): ナン (nan) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): やわ（らかい） (yawa(rakai))

⚫︎ 柔軟 (じゅうなん) Translation: Flexibility; suppleness ⚫︎ 軟らかいパン (やわらかいパン) Translation: Soft bread ⚫︎ 軟水 (なんすい) Translation: Soft water

The kanji 軟 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). ⚫︎ The left side is a radical called 車へん (くるまへん), which is a component of a character relating to "vehicle". ⚫︎ The right side is a phonetic component 欠 (けつ), which provides the sound of the kanji. Originally, 軟 may have depicted something "yielding" like a vehicle's suspension. The meaning evolved to encompass the general concept of softness.