下楼
xiàlóu · HSK 4
Go downstairs
⬇️🏠 下 (down) + 楼 (building/floor) = go down the floors
下 means down or descend; 楼 means a multi-story building or floor. Together they literally mean descend-floor, i.e. go downstairs. Pair with 上楼 (shànglóu, go upstairs).
下 — horizontal line 一 + mark below
下 is an indicative character: a long horizontal line represents a reference level, and a shorter stroke placed beneath it points to the area below. The original meaning 'below, down' comes directly from this spatial diagram, and it later extended to verbs like 'descend' and 'lower'.
楼 — wood radical 木 + 婁 (lóu, phonetic)
楼 is a phono-semantic compound. The 木 radical signals wood, fitting a multi-storied wooden building, while 婁 supplies the lóu sound. Originally written 樓, it referred to a tower or upper story, and today means a multi-floor building or a specific floor.