The kanji 曇 primarily signifies "cloudy," "overcast," or "to become cloudy." It describes a weather condition where the sky is covered with clouds, obscuring the sun. It can also be used metaphorically to express a feeling of dimness, obscurity, or something being unclear. The kanji represents the visual experience of a covered sky and the reduced visibility associated with it.

・On-yomi (音読み): don (ドン) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): 曇る (kumo(ru))

⚫︎ 今日は曇りです。 Translation: It is cloudy today. ⚫︎ 曇り空 Translation: Overcast sky. ⚫︎ 彼の表情は曇っていた。 Translation: His expression was clouded.

The kanji 曇 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). It combines the phonetic component 雲 (kumo, "cloud") with the radical 日 (hi, "sun" or "day"). The phonetic component 雲 gives a clue about the meaning, and 日 gives a hint about the semantic meaning because the sun is hidden by the clouds, resulting in a dim or cloudy appearance. Thus, the formation represents the concept of the sun being covered by clouds.