字幕
zì mù · HSK 7
subtitle
💬 字幕 = 字 (words) + 幕 (screen/curtain) -> words on the screen = subtitles
字 means written character or word; 幕 is a curtain or screen, the same 幕 in 银幕 silver screen. Words laid over the screen are the subtitles or captions.
字 — roof 宀 + child 子
Originally depicted a child 子 under a roof 宀, suggesting birth or rearing a child in the home. The meaning later extended to 'to give birth, nurture' and then to 'written character', since characters were seen as offspring derived from earlier pictographs.
幕 — grass 艹 + sun 日 + big 大 + cloth 巾
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 莫 (mù, sunset/dusk) provides the sound and the idea of evening, while 巾 (cloth) gives the meaning. It depicted a cloth hung at dusk, hence 'curtain' or 'tent,' later extended to 'act/scene' in a play.