妙
miào · HSK 6
wonderful
🐱 女 woman + 少 young; sounds like meow — purrfectly wonderful
The character combines 女 (woman) and 少 (young/few). Something with the freshness of youth is wonderful. Miào rhymes with meow — a cat's purr of approval.
妙 — woman radical 女 + few 少
妙 is a semantic-phonetic compound. 女 (woman) suggests delicacy or beauty, while 少 (few/young) provides the sound and hints at youthful slenderness. The original sense was 'subtle, delicate, exquisite,' later extending to 'wonderful' or 'marvelous.'