The kanji 霊 primarily represents the concept of the "spirit," "soul," or "ghost." It encompasses the immaterial essence of a being, often associated with spiritual power, the supernatural, or the realm of the afterlife. It signifies something that is not physical but rather ethereal and related to consciousness, life force, or the sacred. It can also refer to the spirit of a deceased person.

・On-yomi (音読み): レイ (rei) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): たま (tama) – meaning "spirit," "soul," or "spirit of a dead person"

⚫︎霊魂 (れいこん) Translation: soul; spirit ⚫︎霊園 (れいえん) Translation: cemetery; graveyard ⚫︎お化けの霊 (おばけのれい) Translation: ghost

The kanji 霊 is a phono-semantic compound. The left side is 雨 (ame), meaning "rain," which acts as the semantic component, hinting at something that is mysterious or ethereal like rain. The right side is 灵, which is the phonetic component, providing the sound. Thus, 霊 combines the idea of something mysterious and associated with the sky (rain) with a phonetic element, representing the concept of the spirit or soul.