Meanings
A squared kanji, 割 (wari), from the Japanese word for “discount” (割引, waribiki), unified into Unicode's original 2010 emoji set from Japanese mobile-carrier symbols. It's the emoji version of the red discount stickers seen in Japanese shops. English speakers use it sparingly, mostly in sale posts, coupon codes, or shopping hauls, as quick visual shorthand for a price cut or promotional deal.
It reads clearest when placed next to a price, percentage, or sale keyword, since the bare kanji alone won't register as “discount” to most English readers.
It mimics the red 割引 discount tags and sale-flag stickers common in Japanese retail, a visual cue borrowed rather than a native English shorthand.
Combos with 🈹
Culture
割 (wari) is the same character seen on 割引 (discount) tags and sale banners in Japanese shops, so the emoji is essentially a portable version of that in-store signage.
Retailers and travel-content creators sometimes use it deliberately, even without reading Japanese, because its bright red block reads visually as “sale” the same way a red price tag does.
Its base word, 割引 (waribiki), shares a root with the verb 割る (to divide or split), so the character's core sense is “a cut” — which maps neatly onto the English idea of a price cut.
History
Unicode 6.0 unifies the docomo, au, and SoftBank carrier pictogram sets into the original global emoji block, encoding this squared kanji button in the process.
Google and Apple engineers pushed to standardize Japan's three carrier emoji sets so text messages would render consistently across networks and, eventually, other countries.
iOS 5 opens the full Unicode emoji keyboard to all users worldwide for the first time, rather than restricting it to Japanese carrier accounts as earlier iOS versions had.
Apple's decision in October 2011 to unlock the previously Japan-exclusive emoji keyboard exposed English-speaking users to obscure symbols like 🈹 for the first time.