The kanji 妻 primarily represents "wife" or "spouse" in Japanese. It signifies a married woman in relation to her husband. This character is central to discussions about marriage, family, and the roles within a household. It carries a strong connotation of partnership and commitment.

・On-yomi (音読み): さい (sai) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): つま (tsuma)

⚫︎ 妻妻と夫（おっと） Translation: Wife and husband ⚫︎ 妻妻の誕生日（たんじょうび） Translation: Wife's birthday ⚫︎ 新婚新婚の妻妻 Translation: Newlywed wife

The kanji 妻 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), which means a character combining a semantic component (a part indicating meaning) and a phonetic component (a part indicating pronunciation). The top part of the character is the radical 十 (juu), originally representing hands, and the bottom part 女 (onna), meaning "woman." The original meaning might have implied a woman being held or supported by hands, thus indicating the role of a wife or a woman who is the head of a family. The phonetic element is represented by a character no longer used that has a pronunciation related to "sai". Over time, it developed to signify a woman in the role of a wife.