发型
fà xíng · HSK 7
hairstyle
💇 fà xíng = hair + shape/style — your hair's current form
发 (fà) means hair, 型 (xíng) means type, model, or shape. Together they literally say hair-shape. Think of it as the form your hair takes — the mold it follows.
发 — simplified form of 發; from 癶 (two feet) + 弓 (bow) + 殳 (weapon)
The traditional form 發 depicted shooting an arrow from a bow, with 癶 showing outstretched feet and 弓 the bow, giving the core sense of 'send out, discharge.' From this came extended meanings like 'issue, emit, develop.' The modern simplified 发 also absorbed 髮 (hair), so it now covers both 'to send out' and 'hair.'
型 — earth 土 + 刑 (xíng, phonetic)
型 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 土 (earth) component points to its original meaning: a clay or earthen mold used for casting. The right side 刑 supplies the sound. From 'casting mold' it broadened to mean 'model, type, pattern' in modern usage.