The kanji character 奎 generally represents a star or a constellation, specifically a star in the constellation Andromeda. It can also imply brightness or brilliance.

・On-yomi (音読み): ケイ (Kei) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None, as the primary meaning is directly related to a specific star, and does not have a native Japanese reading.

⚫︎ 奎星 Translation: A star of the 奎 constellation. ⚫︎ 奎壁 Translation: The constellation of 奎 and Bi (a different star constellation). This refers to a general term for constellation. ⚫︎ 奎宿 Translation: The star or constellation 奎.

The kanji 奎 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字 けいせいもじ). The character is believed to be a combination of two elements: ⚫︎ The top part of the character, which is a variant of 大 (meaning "big" or "great"), representing a large object. ⚫︎ The bottom part of the character 圭 (meaning "a jade tablet" or "a jade piece"). The combination of these elements seems to have been used to create a character associated with a bright star or a stellar object. The formation process is related to a particular stellar object, hence the use of 圭, representing the visual appearance of the star or a celestial body.