日常
rì cháng · HSK 3
everyday
☀️ 日常 = sun/day + ordinary/usual → daily routine
日 means sun or day; 常 means ordinary, usual, or constant. Together they form the concept of what happens every day — the ordinary, routine activities of daily life.
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.
常 — 巾 (cloth) + 尚 (phonetic, 'esteem')
Originally written 裳, 常 was a phono-semantic compound: 巾 ('cloth') gave the meaning and 尚 supplied the sound, referring to a long lower garment or skirt. Over time the meaning shifted from 'everyday garment' to 'ordinary, regular, constant', while 裳 took over the original clothing sense.