The kanji 憎 (zō) primarily conveys the meaning of "hate," "detest," or "loathe." It represents a strong feeling of dislike, aversion, or animosity towards something or someone. It goes beyond simple dislike; it implies a deep-seated feeling of repugnance.

・On-yomi (音読み): ゾウ (zō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): にく（む） (niku(mu))

⚫︎憎しみ (nikushimi) Translation: Hatred; animosity ⚫︎憎悪 (zōo) Translation: Hatred; aversion ⚫︎憎む (nikumu) Translation: To hate; to detest; to loathe

The kanji 憎 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound. The left side, 月 (niku-zuki, which originally meant "flesh" but is often used in kanji to describe things related to the body or emotions), provides the semantic component, indicating something related to feelings or emotions. The right side, 曾 (sō), provides the phonetic component, indicating the pronunciation. Therefore, the character combines the element of emotion (月) with a sound associated with the word (曾) to create a kanji representing a strong negative emotion. The original meaning evolved from the expression of physical pain or suffering to encompass the emotional feeling of hate.