皇后
huánghòu · HSK 7
queen
👑 皇 = imperial/emperor + 后 = queen consort; together the emperor's queen, the empress
皇 carries the sense of an august sovereign (same 皇 as 皇帝, emperor); 后 on its own means a ruler's principal wife. Stack them and you get the emperor's wife, the empress or queen consort.
后 — 厂 cliff + 一 + 口 mouth
Originally depicted a ruler or sovereign issuing commands, showing a figure with a mouth giving orders. It came to mean 'queen' or 'empress.' In modern simplified Chinese, 后 also absorbed the meaning 'behind/after' from the traditional character 後, so context decides which sense applies.