以下
yǐxià · HSK 2
the following
⬇️ 以 = by means of + 下 = below; 'by what's below' = the following
以下 literally stacks 以 (by/with) on 下 (below/under). Together they point to whatever comes underneath the current spot — the items listed below, hence 'the following'. Also covers 'and below' for ages, ranks, or amounts.
以 — phonetic 㠯 (plow/tool) + 人 (person)
Originally a pictograph of a hand-held plow or tool (㠯), later combined with 人 (person) to suggest 'using' something. The core meaning 'to use' extended metaphorically to 'by means of', 'with', and 'because of'. In modern Chinese it functions mainly as a grammatical particle.
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'.