宽
kuān · HSK 4
wide
🏞️ 宀 (roof) + 萈 (horned ram) — a hall wide enough for a ram under the roof
The roof radical 宀 sits over 萈, an old form of a horned ram. A house broad enough to shelter a horned animal extends by metaphor to generous, lenient, and wide. Sounds like English 'kwan' — rhymes with 'swan'.
宽 — roof 宀 + 萈 (phonetic, originally a horned goat)
Originally written with 宀 'roof' over 萈, a horned mountain goat, suggesting a spacious dwelling large enough to house such an animal. The 萈 element also lent its sound. Over time the form simplified to today's 宽, and the meaning shifted from 'spacious house' to the general sense of 'wide, broad, lenient'.