晚期
wǎn qī · HSK 7
end stage
🌙 晚 (late/evening) + 期 (period/term) = the late period, end stage
晚 carries the evening/late sense, 期 means a period or term of time. Put together they name the latest stretch of something, often the terminal stage of an illness.
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.
期 — 其 (phonetic) + 月 (moon/time)
期 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 月 (moon) signals meaning, since lunar cycles marked fixed time periods in ancient China. The left side 其 supplies the sound. Together it points to a set time, period, or appointed date — meanings still carried today in words like 期间 and 日期.