The kanji 蒸 primarily means "to steam," "to vaporize," or "to stew." It conveys the idea of cooking or transforming something using steam or heat. It implies a process where moisture and heat are involved to cook or change the state of an object. The action involves heat and, frequently, water or liquids.

・On-yomi (音読み): ジョウ (jō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): む.す (mu.su - to steam), む.れる (mu.re - to get steamed, to steam)

⚫︎ 蒸し料理 Translation: Steamed dishes/cooking ⚫︎ 蒸気機関車 Translation: Steam locomotive ⚫︎ 蒸発 Translation: Evaporation

The kanji 蒸 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The character is composed of the radical 艹 (grass/plant) and the phonetic component 氶. The lower part of the character, 氶, provides the sound, while the radical 艹 provides the meaning association. This association changed in a different period, such as the radical could relate to plant or not. The combination of these parts represents the idea of using heat and often steam to cook or transform something, such as plants.