彩色
cǎisè · HSK 3
color
🎨🌈 彩色 = 彩 (colour/variegated) + 色 (colour/hue)
Both characters mean colour: 彩 carries the sense of variegated or multi-hued (note the 彡 'flowing strokes' radical), while 色 is the general word for colour or hue. Stacking them yields the emphatic 'colourful, multicoloured'.
色 — person 人 (top) + kneeling figure 卩 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph showing one person above another, traditionally interpreted as depicting facial expressions or intimate posture between two people. The earliest meaning was 'facial expression' or 'countenance,' which extended to 'appearance' and eventually 'color' (the look of things). The 'shǎi' reading is a colloquial variant used for everyday color words.