The kanji 腰 primarily represents the "lower back," "waist," or "hips." It refers to the area of the body between the rib cage and the hips. It also extends to mean the area around the waistline, encompassing both the back and sides. It is a fundamental part of the human anatomy and plays a crucial role in balance and movement.

・On-yomi (音読み): ヨウ (yō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): こし (koshi)

⚫︎ 腰痛 Translation: Lower back pain ⚫︎ 腰をかける Translation: To sit down; to take a seat ⚫︎ 腰を痛める Translation: To hurt one's back; to injure one's waist

The kanji 腰 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It combines two components: ⚫︎ The phonetic component: 要 (yō), which originally meant "important" or "essential." The sound ヨウ (yō) comes from this. ⚫︎ The semantic component: 月 (tsuki) or sometimes 肉 (niku) meaning "flesh" or "meat" (this component can also be represented by the simplified form of 月). This gives the character its meaning related to the body. The character thus combines a phonetic element (sound) with a semantic element (meaning), indicating that 腰 relates to a part of the body which is important and essential.