暴雨
bào yǔ · HSK 6
torrential rain
⛈️ 暴雨 = 暴 violent + 雨 rain
暴 (bào) means violent or sudden, and 雨 (yǔ) means rain — together they form a violent, sudden downpour. The 暴 character also appears in 暴风 (windstorm) and 暴力 (violence), marking anything fierce or extreme.
雨 — pictograph: sky 一 + cloud 冂 + four water drops
雨 is a pictograph showing rain falling from a cloud under the sky. The top horizontal stroke represents the sky, the enclosing shape depicts a cloud, and the four small strokes inside are falling raindrops. Its meaning 'rain' has stayed consistent since oracle bone script.