瓷器
cíqì · HSK 7
chinaware
🏺 cíqì sounds like see-chee — see the chi-na ware on the shelf
瓷 (cí) means porcelain and 器 (qì) means vessel or ware. Together they literally say porcelain-ware. The English word china for dishes comes from China, the country famous for perfecting this craft.
瓷 — 次 cì (phonetic) + 瓦 wǎ 'tile/earthenware' (semantic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 瓦 'tile, baked clay' gives the meaning (a fired ceramic ware), while 次 supplies the sound 'cì'. The character originally referred to fine fired pottery, and later came to mean porcelain specifically — the prized white ware that gave China its English name.