The kanji 猿 primarily means "monkey" or "ape." It refers to the primates known for their intelligence, agility, and resemblance to humans.

・On-yomi (音読み): エン (en) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): さる (saru)

⚫︎ 猿（さる） Translation: monkey ⚫︎ 動物園には猿がたくさんいます。 Translation: There are many monkeys in the zoo. ⚫︎ 類人猿（るいじんえん） Translation: ape (great ape)

The kanji 猿 is a pictographic-semantic compound character. The left side is the radical 犭 (kemono hen, meaning "animal"). The right side is 袁 (en), which provides the phonetic element and also possibly contributes to the meaning, as 袁 depicts a person bowing. Therefore, the combination of the radical 犭 (animal) and the phonetic/semantic component 袁 suggests an animal that is somewhat similar to humans, which is the monkey.