每当
měidāng · HSK 7
every time
🔔⏰ 每 every + 当 when/at-the-time = every-time, whenever
每 means every (as in 每天 every day), 当 means at the time/when. Stack them: every + when = whenever, every single time something happens.
每 — top 𠂉 (hair pin) + 母 mother
每 originally depicted a woman (母, mother) with an ornamental hairpin on top, suggesting a mature or adorned woman. Over time the meaning shifted by extension from 'lush, abundant' to the modern sense of 'every' or 'each'. The 母 component also hints at the pronunciation.
当 — small ⺌ + crown 冖 + hand 彐 (simplified from 當: 尚 + 田)
Originally written 當, combining 田 'field' with 尚 as a phonetic. The early sense was 'to match' or 'face' a field of equal value, extended to 'correspond to', 'ought to', and 'serve as'. The simplified form 当 streamlines the upper 尚 component.