没落
mò luò · HSK 7
to decline
📉🍂 没 sink + 落 fall = sink and fall away, i.e. to decline or wane
没 carries the sense of sinking out of sight and 落 means to drop or fall. Together they describe something fading from prominence: a family, empire, or trend that sinks and falls into decline.
没 — water 氵 + 殳 (hand with weapon)
Originally depicted something sinking or being submerged in water, combining the water radical 氵 with 殳, suggesting a hand reaching into a whirlpool. The core sense was 'to sink, drown, disappear under water.' From there it extended to 'to vanish, not have,' giving the modern negative meaning 'not, have not.'
落 — grass radical 艹 + 洛 (water 氵 + 各)
Originally written with the grass radical 艹 over 洛, depicting leaves falling from plants. 洛 serves as the phonetic component (giving the luò sound) while 艹 supplies the meaning of vegetation. The sense extended from 'leaves falling' to the general meaning of falling, dropping, or settling down.