The kanji 規 generally conveys the meaning of "rule," "standard," "regulation," or "pattern." It suggests a prescribed way of doing something, a set of guidelines, or a measure used for judgment. It emphasizes the importance of established order and adherence to set principles.

・On-yomi (音読み): キ (ki) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None, although the concept is often translated with words such as のり (nori) or おきて (okite) which mean "rule" or "law".

⚫︎ 規則(kisoku) Translation: Rules; regulations. ⚫︎ 規格(kikaku) Translation: Standard; specification; norm. ⚫︎ 規約(kiyaku) Translation: Regulations; rules; agreement.

The kanji 規 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. The left side is 見 (ken, "to see"), which serves as the phonetic component, indicating the pronunciation. The right side is 夫 (fu, "man"), which is not used in modern usage, but represents the meaning. Therefore the original meaning of the character suggests that the standard or rule is what men would see.