The kanji 斤 primarily represents a unit of weight, specifically a catty (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately equal to 0.5 kilograms or 1.1 pounds). It can also refer to the act of chopping or cutting with an axe. The core meaning revolves around measurement and division.

・On-yomi (音読み): キン (kin) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None, but often used to represent a unit of weight.

⚫︎ 一斤 (ikk in) Translation: One catty (a unit of weight). ⚫︎ 斤量 (kinryō) Translation: Weight; amount. ⚫︎ 半斤八両 (hank in hachiryō) Translation: Half a catty and eight taels (meaning roughly "six of one, half a dozen of the other," indicating little difference between two options).

The kanji 斤 is a pictograph. It depicts an axe or a hatchet. The shape of the character is a simplified representation of the tool. Over time, it came to be associated with chopping and cutting, and subsequently, with measurement and weight, as an axe could be used for cutting and dividing things, thus associating it with measurement.