乘
chéng · HSK 5
ride
🐎 chéng sounds like 'chung' — climb up to ride
乘 originally showed a person on top of a tree, extended to mounting or riding anything. Today it covers riding vehicles (乘车) and the math sense of multiplication.
乘 — person 人 atop tree 木 with two feet
Originally a pictograph showing a person standing on a tree, depicting climbing or mounting. The meaning extended from 'to mount/climb' to 'to ride' (a vehicle or animal), and later to 'multiply' in mathematics. The reading shèng (fourth tone) preserves the older sense of a chariot or vehicle.