气象
qìxiàng · HSK 5
meteorology
🌦️ 气象 = 气 (air/weather) + 象 (phenomenon/appearance)
气 means air or weather; 象 means phenomenon or appearance. Together 气象 literally reads as weather-phenomenon, covering meteorology and atmospheric conditions like advection and isotherms.
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.