The kanji 陽 primarily represents "sun," "sunlight," "positive," or "male (in the context of yin and yang)." It conveys the ideas of light, warmth, activity, and things that are bright and open. It is often associated with the masculine principle in the philosophical concept of yin and yang.

・On-yomi (音読み): ヨウ (yō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ひ (hi) - used in compounds and sometimes by itself, meaning "sun" or "day"

⚫︎ 太陽 (たいよう) Translation: Sun ⚫︎ 陽気 (ようき) Translation: Cheerful, jovial, lively ⚫︎ 陽性 (ようせい) Translation: Positive (e.g., in a test result)

The kanji 陽 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It is composed of two parts: ⚫︎The left side is the radical 阝 (こざとへん - kozatohen, "village" or "mound," but here it acts as a semantic component), which also serves as a phonic component. ⚫︎The right side is 易 (eki) meaning "easy" or "change." The original meaning was related to the sunny side of a hill or a slope. Over time, it came to represent sunlight and the associated qualities of brightness and positivity.