剩
shèng · HSK 5
be left
🍚 剩 = 乘 (ride/multiply) + 刂 (knife) — what the knife leaves behind
剩 means leftover or surplus. The right side 刂 is the knife radical; the left 乘 originally meant to mount or multiply. Together: after the knife cuts away, what remains is the surplus.
剩 — 乘 (chéng, ride/multiply) + 刂 knife radical
Originally written with 刀/刂 (knife) plus 乘 as the phonetic, 剩 meant 'to cut off the remainder.' Over time the cutting sense faded and the character came to mean simply 'surplus' or 'what is left over.' The 乘 component still hints at the shèng pronunciation.