新潮
xīn cháo · HSK 7
modern
🌊 新潮 = new (新) + tide (潮): riding the new wave means modern, fashionable
新 means new and 潮 means tide or current. A new tide is the latest trend washing in, so 新潮 describes anything modern or fashionable. Note 潮 also means trendy on its own.
新 — 立 stand + 木 tree + 斤 axe
Originally depicted cutting fresh wood with an axe (斤) from a tree (木), with 辛/立 as the phonetic component. The original meaning of 'firewood' was later written as 薪, while 新 took on the extended sense of 'new' or 'fresh'.
潮 — water 氵 + morning 朝
潮 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning (tide, sea water), while 朝 (morning) supplies the sound. Originally it referred to the morning tide, later broadened to mean tides in general and, by extension, currents or trends.