The kanji 棒 primarily means "pole," "stick," "rod," or "bar." It refers to a long, relatively straight object, typically made of wood or metal. It can also imply something resembling a stick in shape or function. The core idea is that of an elongated, solid object.

・On-yomi (音読み): ボウ (bou) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): - (No common Kun-yomi)

⚫︎ 金棒(きんぼう) Translation: Gold bar. ⚫︎ 警官は棒を持っていた(けいかんはぼうをもっていた) Translation: The police officer had a stick. ⚫︎ 鉄棒(てつぼう) Translation: Iron rod / Horizontal bar (gymnastics).

The kanji 棒 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). It combines the radical 木 (き, ki), meaning "tree" or "wood," on the left side, with the phonetic component 奉 (ほう, hou) on the right. The phonetic component 奉 is the character's pronunciation, and the 木 radical suggests the material, typically wood, from which a 棒 (stick or pole) is often made. The character's formation reflects the creation of a stick or pole from wood.