眼光
yǎnguāng · HSK 5
gaze
👁️ 眼光 = eye + light; the 'light from your eyes' = your gaze or insight
Compound of 眼 (eye) + 光 (light/ray). The 'light coming from your eyes' extends from literal gaze to figurative vision — judgment, taste, or insight. Someone with 好眼光 has a 'good eye' for spotting quality.
眼 — eye radical 目 + 艮 (phonetic)
眼 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 目 means 'eye' and gives the meaning, while 艮 on the right supplies the sound. Originally referring to the eyeball, it broadened over time to mean 'eye' generally and, by extension, 'a hole' or 'key point'.
光 — fire 火 (top) + person 儿 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph of a person with fire above their head, depicting a torchbearer or the radiance from a flame. The character evolved to mean 'light' or 'brightness' in general, and by extension 'glory' and 'to shine.' The modern top component is a stylized form of 火 (fire).