傍晚
bàng wǎn · HSK 6
towards evening
🌆 傍 = beside + 晚 = late; the hour beside late, just before night
傍 means to be next to or alongside, and 晚 means late or evening. Together they mark the time adjacent to nightfall — the slot beside late, when day slides into dusk.
晚 — sun 日 + 免 (avoid/phonetic)
晚 combines 日 (sun) as the meaning component with 免 as the phonetic. The sun element signals a time of day, while 免 hints at the pronunciation wǎn. Originally it referred to the late part of the day when the sun is setting, and from there extended to mean 'late' in a general sense.