开花
kāihuā · HSK 4
bloom
🌸 开 (open) + 花 (flower) = flowers open, i.e. bloom
开 means to open; 花 means flower. Together 开花 literally reads as 'open flower' — the moment a bud breaks open into bloom. The figurative sense 'burst forth / split apart' extends from that same opening motion.
开 — two hands 廾 + door 门 (open gate)
Originally written 開, showing two hands (廾) lifting the bar (一) off a gate (門) to open it. The simplified form 开 keeps the two-hands element and drops the gate. Core meaning 'to open' extended to 'start, operate, bloom'.
花 — grass radical 艹 + 化 (change/phonetic)
花 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The top 艹 (grass) signals the plant meaning, while 化 ('change, transform') gives the sound and hints at how buds change into blossoms. It originally meant 'flower' or 'blossom' and later extended to 'flowery, patterned, to spend.'