忙
máng · HSK 1
busy
💼 忙 = 忄(heart) + 亡 (lost) — heart lost in tasks
The radical 忄is a compressed form of 心 (heart), and 亡 means lost or gone. So 忙 literally encodes a heart that's gone or scattered — the classic feeling of being too busy to think. 亡 also carries the máng/wáng sound, hinting at the pronunciation.
忙 — heart radical 忄 + 亡 (lose/perish)
忙 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 gives the meaning, suggesting a state of mind, while 亡 (lose, perish) supplies the sound. The image is of a heart so overwhelmed it 'loses itself' — hence 'busy, hurried, flustered'.