The kanji 殖 primarily conveys the meanings of "to increase," "to cultivate," "to raise," or "to breed." It relates to the growth, propagation, and expansion of something, especially in the context of living things or resources.

・On-yomi (音読み): ショク (shoku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ふ（やす） (fuyasu)

⚫︎ 殖民地 (shokuminchi) Translation: Colony ⚫︎ 繁殖 (han shoku) Translation: Breeding, propagation ⚫︎ 増殖 (zō shoku) Translation: Proliferation, increase

The kanji 殖 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). The semantic component is イ (hen), which represents "crop" or "to grow." The phonetic component is 直 (choku, jiki), which contributes to the sound. Together, they suggest the idea of "cultivating" or "making something grow," reflecting the meaning of increase and propagation.