气味
qìwèi · HSK 7
odor
👃 气 air + 味 taste = a smell, the flavor an odor carries on the air
气 means air or breath; 味 means taste or flavor. Together they name the quality your nose detects, the savor or tang riding on the air. Same 味 sits in 口味 flavor and 味道 taste.
气 — steam/vapor radical 气
Originally a pictograph of rising vapor or clouds drifting in the sky, depicting curling streams of air. The character came to mean breath, air, and by extension vital energy or 'qi.' The simplified form 气 keeps the original outline; the traditional 氣 added 米 (rice) to suggest steam rising from cooking grain.