大熊猫
dà xióng māo · HSK 5
giant panda
🐼 大 big + 熊 bear + 猫 cat = big bear-cat
Chinese literally calls the panda a big bear-cat: 大 (big) + 熊 (bear) + 猫 (cat). The 熊猫 'bear-cat' pairing reflects its bear-like body and cat-like face; 大 distinguishes it from the red panda (小熊猫, little bear-cat).
大 — pictograph of a person with arms outstretched
大 is a pictograph showing a person standing with arms and legs spread wide. The outstretched arms suggest 'big' or 'great', extending from the literal image of a large stance to abstract meanings like important or grand. It is one of the oldest characters, found on oracle bones.
熊 — 能 (ability) + 灬 (fire/legs)
Originally a pictograph of a bear, later reanalyzed as 能 plus four dots 灬 at the bottom. The character 能 itself once depicted a bear and meant 'bear,' but it was borrowed for 'ability,' so 灬 was added to 能 to restore the original 'bear' meaning.
猫 — dog/beast radical 犭 + 苗 (miáo, sprout)
猫 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 犭 is the 'beast' radical, signaling an animal. The right side 苗 (miáo) supplies the sound, which also evokes a cat's 'meow'. Originally written 貓 with the 豸 radical for clawed beasts; 犭 became standard in simplified Chinese.