主人
zhǔrén · HSK 2
host
👑 主 = master/owner + 人 = person → the master person, i.e. the host
主 originally depicted a lamp flame, the central/fixed point of a room, extended to mean master or owner. Add 人 (person) and you get the person in charge: host, lord, or housemaster.
主 — flame/lamp on top of a stand 王
Originally a pictograph of a lamp with a flame on top of its stand, representing the lord or master of the household who tended the fire. The meaning extended from 'lamp/host' to 'master, owner, main, principal'. The character 炷 (wick) preserves the original 'lamp' sense.
人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.