肉

• Anatomical/Biological: Soft tissue, muscle, and skin; generally denotes undifferentiated flesh or carnal substance.
• Culinary/Sacrificial: Meat as food; specifically protein offerings in ritual contexts.
• Structural Totality: The physical frame or biological body (typically when paired with 骨 "bone").
• Descriptive: Qualities of thickness, softness, or plumpness, which may signify either health and prosperity or indulgence and lack of discipline.

• General vs. Specific: 肉 usually refers to bulk tissue or general flesh, whereas characters containing the 月 radical typically specify a particular organ.
• Material Contrast: In medical or philosophical contexts, often used as a foil to 神 (spirit), 心 (heart/mind), or 骨 (bone) to emphasize the fragility or limitations of the physical vessel.

The glyph serves as a radical for characters pertaining to anatomy or the body (e.g., 肝 liver, 肺 lungs, 胃 stomach). In these instances, it appears as the component 月. Although visually identical to the glyph for "moon," this is a shorthand variant of 肉.

When encountering a high density of 月 radicals in a passage, they should be read as markers of anatomical or physical materiality.