多媒体

duōméitǐ · HSK 6

multi-media

📺💿 多 (many) + 媒 (medium/go-between) + 体 (body/form) = many-media-forms

多 means 'many', 媒 is the 'medium' or go-between (also in 媒介 'medium'), and 体 is 'body/form'. Together: many forms of media. The 'méi' in 媒 matches the English 'me' in 'media'.

多 — two 夕 (evening) stacked
多 originally depicted two pieces of meat (夕, a variant of 肉) stacked together, suggesting abundance. Over time it was reanalyzed as two 'evenings' piled up — many evenings meaning many days, hence 'many, much'. The doubling itself conveys quantity.

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