屏幕
píng mù · HSK 6
screen
🖥️📺 ping a screen and it mutes — ping-mute, ping mu
屏 (ping) means shield or screen, 幕 (mu) means curtain. Together they form the modern word for any display surface — a curtain of light shielding you from boredom.
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.