恐龙
kǒnglóng · HSK 7
dinosaur
🦕🦖 恐 (fear/terror) + 龙 (dragon) = the terror-dragon, i.e. dinosaur
恐 means fear or terror and 龙 means dragon, so a dinosaur is literally a fearsome dragon. The reading kǒnglóng keeps 龙 = lóng, the same lóng you hear in 龙 dragon words.
龙 — simplified form of 龍; phonetic-pictographic
龙 is the simplified form of the traditional 龍, an ancient pictograph depicting a serpentine dragon with a crested head, scaly body, and curling tail. In oracle bone script it was clearly drawn as a mythical reptile. The character has always meant 'dragon', a powerful and auspicious creature in Chinese culture.