仪表
yí biǎo · HSK 7
appearance
📟 仪 ceremony/instrument + 表 surface/gauge = outward bearing, or a measuring meter
表 also means watch/dial, the readable face of a gauge; 仪 covers both decorum and apparatus. So 仪表 splits two ways: a person's outward bearing, and an instrument's dial-faced meter.
表 — fur 毛 on top + garment 衣 below
Originally depicted an outer fur garment, with 毛 (fur) above 衣 (clothing), showing the hairy outside of a coat. From 'outer garment' it extended to mean 'outside, surface,' then 'to show, express, display,' and later 'table, chart' as something laid out on the surface.