The kanji 搭 primarily conveys the meaning of "to load," "to board," or "to get on/in." It often implies the act of entering or ascending something, such as a vehicle, structure, or platform. This can extend to the idea of constructing or setting up something.

・On-yomi (音読み): トウ (tou) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): の (no - as in のる, which means "to get on/board")

⚫︎ 搭乗 (とうじょう) Translation: Boarding (a plane, etc.) ⚫︎ 搭乗口 (とうじょうぐち) Translation: Boarding gate ⚫︎ 搭 (とう) Translation: To build, construct (also used to indicate the number of stories of a building, though less common than other words for that)

The kanji 搭 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). The left side is a radical (偏, へん), and the right side is a phonetic component (音符, おんぷ) that provides the sound and hints at the meaning. The radical on the left is 木 (き, ki), meaning "tree" or "wood." The phonetic component on the right is 荅 (tou, a now-rare kanji itself, which is a plant name). The original meaning was connected to the meaning of building a structure. The combination creates the meaning of building, putting something on top of something else, or boarding. Over time, it developed the broader meanings associated with boarding and entering vehicles or structures, as well as the sense of construction.