The kanji 渓 generally represents a "valley," "glen," or "mountain stream." It evokes a sense of natural beauty, often associated with a narrow, often steep-sided, area of land between hills or mountains, usually with a stream flowing through it. It implies a place of serenity and often remoteness.

・On-yomi (音読み): ケイ (kei) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): たに (tani)

⚫︎ 渓谷 (keikoku) Translation: valley; gorge; ravine ⚫︎ 渓流 (keiryuu) Translation: mountain stream; stream in a valley ⚫︎ 渓畔 (keihen) Translation: bank of a mountain stream

The kanji 渓 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is the water radical, 氵 (san-sui), which indicates that it has something to do with water. The right side is 奚 (kei), which provides the phonetic component. The original meaning relates to a stream flowing in a valley. The element 奚 was borrowed to provide the sound. The combination of the two elements creates the idea of a stream in a valley.