显示器
xiǎnshìqì · HSK 7
monitor
🖥️ 显 show + 示 indicate + 器 device = the show-and-indicate device, a monitor
器 is the generic suffix for a machine or instrument (as in 机器 machine). Both 显 and 示 mean to show or reveal, doubling down on display, so 显示器 literally names the device whose whole job is to show things.
显 — sun 日 + head/page 頁 (simplified from 顯)
Originally 顯, showing a head 頁 looking at silk threads under the sun 日, suggesting things made visible or apparent. The meaning extended from 'clearly seen' to 'manifest, evident, prominent.' Simplified to 显 by reducing the silk-and-head element to a small mark beneath 日.
示 — altar 示 (二 + 小); originally 丅 with three strokes
示 is a pictograph of an ancient altar or sacrificial stand, with the top line representing heaven and the strokes below depicting offerings or hanging banners. It originally meant 'to show' something to the spirits, and by extension came to mean 'to show, display, or indicate' in general. As a radical, it appears in many characters related to ritual, worship, and divine matters.