The kanji 背 primarily represents the "back" of a person or animal, referring to the dorsal part of the body. It also carries the meaning of "height," "stature," or "to turn one's back." It often implies support, something that is behind, or a position that is in the rear.

・On-yomi (音読み): ハイ (hai) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): せ (se), せい (sei), そむ-く (somu-ku)

⚫︎背中 Translation: Back (of the body) ⚫︎身長 Translation: Height (of a person) ⚫︎背く Translation: To disobey; to go against

The kanji 背 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいもじ). The left side is a part of 肉(にく, "meat") and gives the meaning, while the right side is 北(ほく, "north") and gives the sound. 肉(にく) hints at the part of body, and 北 (ほく) originally depicted two people facing back to back, thus evoking the meaning of the back. Over time the connection to "north" faded, and the meaning of back came to dominate.