The kanji 蒔 primarily means "to sow" or "to plant" seeds. It conveys the action of placing seeds into the ground for growth. It also implies the beginning of a process and the potential for future development. It is closely associated with agriculture and the act of cultivation.

・On-yomi (音読み): シ (shi) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ま（く） (ma(ku))

⚫︎種を蒔く Translation: To sow seeds ⚫︎蒔絵 (makie) Translation: Lacquer work with sprinkled design (This word combines the concept of sowing with the idea of applying small particles) ⚫︎蒔かない種は生えない Translation: Seeds that are not sown will not grow.

The kanji 蒔 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It is composed of two parts: the "grass" radical (艸, 艹), which indicates plants or vegetation, and the phonetic component 寺 (shi), which suggests the sound. The radical provides the semantic (meaning) component related to plants, and the phonetic component gives a clue about the pronunciation. The combination suggests the action related to plants. This formation method is an effective way of creating new characters by combining semantic and phonetic components.