The kanji 刻 primarily conveys the concept of "carving," "engraving," or "cutting." It often implies making a mark, impression, or incision, which can then be extended to mean "time" because time is often thought of as being "marked" or "measured" in increments. It can also imply a sense of precision and detail.

・On-yomi (音読み): コク (koku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): きざ-む (kiza-mu) - to engrave, to carve; きざ-み (kiza-mi) - a notch;とき (toki) - time, often used in phrases expressing specific times.

⚫︎ 時刻 (じこく) Translation: Time; hour ⚫︎ 彫刻 (ちょうこく) Translation: Sculpture; carving ⚫︎ 一刻 (いっこく) Translation: One moment; an instant; an hour (in old Japanese time-keeping)

The kanji 刻 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is the radical 刀 (かたな) or 刂 (りっとう), which represents a knife or sword, indicating the action of cutting or carving. The right side is 亥 (がい), which originally depicted a pig. The combination suggests using a knife to make marks or carvings, potentially on a pig. Later, its association with time developed as a way to mark or measure its passage.