今日
jīn rì · HSK 5
today
📅 今 = now/present + 日 = sun/day → the present day
今 means now or the current moment; 日 is the sun and by extension a day. Together 今日 literally reads as present-day, a slightly formal way to say today, common in written Chinese and shared with Japanese kyō.
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.