The kanji 競 means "to compete," "to contend," "to race," or "to vie." It implies a situation where two or more entities are striving against each other for a common goal or prize. It signifies a struggle, rivalry, or a contest. This can be in the context of sports, business, or any activity where individuals or groups are trying to outperform each other.

・On-yomi (音読み): キョウ (kyou) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): きそ(う) (kiso(u))

⚫︎ 競争 (kyousou) Translation: Competition; race; contest ⚫︎ 競技 (kyougi) Translation: Game; match; contest; event; competition ⚫︎ 競泳 (kyouei) Translation: Swimming competition

The kanji 競 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The character is composed of the following two components: ⚫︎ 𧾷 (also used as part of the character), this component is a variant of 鬲(resembling a tripod cooking vessel), suggesting a gathering or assembly, and originally, the meeting of several people to fight each other. ⚫︎ 兄 (kyou), which functions as the phonetic component, indicating the pronunciation. Over time, 鬲 has been simplified, and the character evolved to its current form. The meaning shifted towards competition and rivalry as the character started to represent scenarios involving multiple individuals striving for the same goal.