描写
miáoxiě · HSK 4
describe
🖌️📝 描 = hand sketches outline; 写 = write — sketch + write = depict
描 (miáo) combines 扌(hand) with 苗 (sprout/seedling) for tracing a fine outline; 写 (xiě) means to write or set down. Together: trace-and-write, i.e. describe or depict in words.
写 — 宀 roof + 与 (phonetic, simplified from 寫)
Originally 寫 depicted placing something under a roof (宀), extended to mean 'to set down' and then 'to write/copy'. The simplified form 写 keeps the roof but replaces the complex inner element with 与, which also hints at the sound. Today it broadly means 'to write' or 'to depict'.