学习
xuéxí · HSK 1
learn
📚 学习 = 学 (study) + 习 (practice/repeat)
学 originally showed hands guiding a child under a roof — formal learning. 习 depicted wings repeating flight — practice through repetition. Together: study plus drill, the two halves of mastering anything.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.