埋没
mái mò · HSK 7
to overlook
🪦 埋没 = 埋 bury + 没 sink/vanish — buried and submerged out of sight
埋 (土 earth + 里) means to bury in the ground; 没 means to sink or vanish under water. Together they describe being engulfed or covered over, hence the figurative sense of a talent overlooked or stifled.
埋 — earth 土 + village 里 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 土 (earth) gives the meaning of burying in soil, while 里 supplies the sound. The original sense was to cover or hide something underground, later extended to figurative meanings like 'bury oneself in work' or to conceal.
没 — water 氵 + 殳 (hand with weapon)
Originally depicted something sinking or being submerged in water, combining the water radical 氵 with 殳, suggesting a hand reaching into a whirlpool. The core sense was 'to sink, drown, disappear under water.' From there it extended to 'to vanish, not have,' giving the modern negative meaning 'not, have not.'