家喻户晓
jiā yù hù xiǎo · HSK 7
well known
🏠📣 家 home + 喻 explain + 户 household + 晓 know = every home knows it
Literally home-explained, household-knows: a fact so widespread that every door (户 = door/household) has heard of it. English match: a household name.
家 — roof 宀 + pig 豕
Originally a pictograph of a pig under a roof, since domesticated pigs were kept in or under the home in ancient China. Over time the meaning broadened from 'household' to 'family,' and by extension 'home' or a specialist (as in 专家, 'expert').
户 — single-leaf door (half of 門)
户 is a pictograph showing a single-leaf door, originally drawn as half of 門 (a double door). It came to mean 'door,' then by extension 'household' or 'family,' since a door marks one dwelling. Today it commonly means 'household' or 'account.'