塑料袋
sù liào dài · HSK 4
plastic bag
🛍️ 塑料袋 = mold/plastic + material + bag
塑 (sù) = to mold/shape, used for 'plastic'; 料 (liào) = material; 袋 (dài) = bag. Literally 'molded-material bag' — the standard term for a plastic shopping bag.
料 — rice 米 + dipper 斗
料 combines 米 (rice/grain) with 斗 (a measuring dipper), depicting the act of measuring out grain. From this concrete sense it extended to 'to measure, estimate, anticipate' and to 'materials' (things measured out for use), as in 材料 'materials' and 预料 'to anticipate'.
袋 — 代 (dài, phonetic) + 衣 (clothing)
袋 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The bottom 衣 'clothing/cloth' gives the meaning, since bags were originally made of cloth, while 代 on top supplies the sound 'dài'. It has long meant 'bag, sack, pouch'.