工作日
gōng zuò rì · HSK 5
weekday
📅💼 工作日 = work + day; 工作 (work) + 日 (sun/day)
工 means labor/work (originally a carpenter's square), 作 means to do/make, and 日 is the sun radical meaning day. Together: a day for doing work — a weekday.
作 — person radical 亻 + 乍
作 combines the person radical 亻 with 乍, which originally depicted a sudden action or making something. The character means 'to do, make, or create,' with 亻 indicating human activity and 乍 supplying the sound. Over time it broadened to cover works, deeds, and acting as something.
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.