The kanji 飲 primarily means "to drink" or "to ingest a liquid." It represents the action of taking a liquid substance into the body, typically through the mouth. This encompasses not just drinking water, but also consuming other beverages such as tea, coffee, juice, or alcoholic drinks. The core meaning focuses on the act of consuming liquids.

・On-yomi (音読み): イン (in) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): の（む） (nomu - to drink)

⚫︎ 水を飲む Translation: To drink water. ⚫︎ お酒を飲む Translation: To drink alcohol. ⚫︎ 飲食物 Translation: Food and beverages (consumables).

The kanji 飲 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字 - keisei moji). It is formed by combining the radical 氵 (water, meaning "liquid") with the phonetic component 欠 (ken). The radical 氵 indicates the meaning is related to liquid, while 欠, which originally depicted a person opening their mouth, provides the sound and hints at the action of taking something in. Over time, 欠 evolved to represent "to lack" or "to yawn," but in the context of 飲 it still conveys the idea of an open mouth consuming something, reinforcing the meaning of "to drink."