礼拜
lǐbài · HSK 5
week
📅 礼拜 = ritual + worship; Sunday worship cycle became the word for week
礼 (lǐ) means rite/ceremony and 拜 (bài) means to bow/worship. The compound originally meant a religious service, and since Christian worship recurs every Sunday, 礼拜 came to mean week.
礼 — 示 (altar/ritual) + 乚 (simplified from 豊)
Originally 禮, showing 示 (altar) beside 豊 (a ritual vessel of grain), depicting offerings made at a shrine. The character meant religious ceremony, then broadened to social rites, courtesy, and gifts. The simplified form 礼 keeps 示 and replaces 豊 with the abbreviated 乚.