The kanji 腰 primarily represents the "lower back," "waist," or "hips." It encompasses the area of the body between the ribs and the hips, the area that supports the upper body.

・On-yomi (音読み): ヨウ (yō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): こし (koshi)

⚫︎腰痛 Translation: Lower back pain ⚫︎腰をかける Translation: To sit down, to take a seat (literally: "to put the waist") ⚫︎腰を振る Translation: To swing the hips

The kanji 腰 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The semantic component (meaning) is 月 (tsuki, moon or flesh/body) indicating the body and the phonetic component (sound) is 要 (yō) which gives the sound. Together, they create the idea of the waist. The shape of the character reflects the anatomical location.