时候
shíhòu · HSK 1
time
⏰ 时候 = 时 (time) + 候 (period/wait); together: a moment in time
时 means time/hour and 候 means a period or to wait. Combined, 时候 names a point or stretch of time — the 'when' of something. Compare 时间 (duration) vs 时候 (the moment itself).
时 — sun 日 + temple/measure 寺
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 日 (sun) gives the meaning of time or season, while 寺 (shí) supplies the sound. Early forms used 之 as the phonetic before 寺 replaced it. The core sense 'season, time, hour' has stayed stable since ancient Chinese.