一样
yīyàng · HSK 1
same
🟰 一样 = one + kind/sort → 'of one kind' = the same
一 means 'one' and 样 means 'kind' or 'sort'. Together they literally read as 'one kind', i.e. things belonging to the same category — hence 'same, equal, similar'.
一 — single horizontal stroke
一 is one of the simplest pictographs in Chinese, depicting a single horizontal line to represent the number one. It has retained essentially the same form since oracle bone script over 3,000 years ago. By extension it also means 'first,' 'whole,' or 'same.'
样 — wood radical 木 + sheep 羊
样 is a phono-semantic compound. The wood radical 木 originally hinted at meaning (a wooden model or sample), while 羊 (sheep) supplies the sound. From 'wooden pattern/template' it broadened to mean 'shape, form, kind, manner'.