暴风雨
bào fēng yǔ · HSK 6
rainstorm
⛈️ 暴风雨 = violent + wind + rain
Compound of 暴 (violent/sudden), 风 (wind), and 雨 (rain) — literally a violent wind-and-rain event. The 风+雨 pair on its own already means weather/hardship; 暴 cranks it up to storm.
风 — 几 (table) + 虫 (insect)
Originally written 鳳 (phoenix), later simplified. The traditional form 風 contains 虫 (insect), reflecting an old belief that wind brought insects or that creatures stirred with the wind. The modern simplified 风 keeps 几 as an outer frame around 㐅.
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.