宇航员
yǔ háng yuán · HSK 6
astronaut
🧑🚀🚀 universe + navigate + person = the one who sails the cosmos
宇 (yǔ) means universe, 航 (háng) means navigate or voyage, 员 (yuán) means person or member. Stack them: a universe-voyaging crew member — an astronaut.
员 — mouth 口 + shell/money 贝 (貝)
Originally a pictograph of a round bronze tripod vessel, with 口 depicting its round opening and 鼎 (later simplified to 貝/贝) showing the vessel itself. The original sense was 'round,' now written 圓/圆. It was borrowed to mean 'member' or 'person in a role,' which became its main modern meaning.