晚报

wǎn bào · HSK 2

newspaper

🌆📰 晚 (evening) + 报 (report/paper) = evening newspaper

晚 means late/evening (the sun 日 setting), and 报 means to report or a newspaper. Together they form the daily evening edition — the news that drops after work hours.

晚 — sun 日 + 免 (avoid/phonetic)
晚 combines 日 (sun) as the meaning component with 免 as the phonetic. The sun element signals a time of day, while 免 hints at the pronunciation wǎn. Originally it referred to the late part of the day when the sun is setting, and from there extended to mean 'late' in a general sense.

报 — hand 扌 (报) + 卩 seal/kneeling figure
Originally 報 depicted a hand pressing a kneeling criminal under a manacle (幸 + 卩 + 又), meaning 'to judge' or 'requite a crime.' From 'repay/requite' it broadened to 'respond, report, announce.' The simplified form 报 keeps the hand 扌 and 卩 but drops the manacle element.

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