The kanji 肺 represents the lungs. It signifies the primary organs responsible for respiration, where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place within the body. Therefore, the core meaning revolves around breathing and the respiratory system.

・On-yomi (音読み): はい (hai) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None (There is no common native Japanese reading for this kanji.)

⚫︎ 肺活量 (はいかつりょう) Translation: Lung capacity ⚫︎ 肺炎 (はいえん) Translation: Pneumonia ⚫︎ 肺がん (はいがん) Translation: Lung cancer

The kanji 肺 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). The phonetic component is 巿 (fú), which initially meant "market" or "city." The semantic component is 月 (getsu/tsuki), which means "moon" or, in this context, "flesh" or "body part." The combination suggests a body part that is associated with the market or city, in other words, in this case, the lungs. The historical development shows the character evolving to the form we recognize today, maintaining the core meaning of the lungs. The bottom radical that is usually related to flesh is written as 月.