The kanji 粒 primarily conveys the meaning of a "grain," "speck," or "particle." It refers to small, individual units of something, such as grains of rice, granules of sugar, or small particles in general. It emphasizes the concept of something small and discrete.

・On-yomi (音読み): りゅう (ryū) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): つぶ (tsubu)

⚫︎ 米粒 Translation: grain of rice ⚫︎ 砂粒 Translation: grain of sand ⚫︎ 一粒の涙 Translation: a single tear

The kanji 粒 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It combines the semantic element of 米 (rice) with the phonetic element 立 (立, ritsu, meaning to stand, set up). The original meaning was likely connected to grains of rice. The rice signifies the category, and the second component serves as phonetic element and further refines the idea of individual small units. Over time, the meaning expanded to encompass other small particles beyond just rice.