礼服
lǐfú · HSK 7
ceremonial dress
👔 礼 ceremony/courtesy + 服 clothing = the clothing you wear for a ceremony
礼 (lǐ) is rite, courtesy, or ceremony; 服 (fú) is garment or clothing. Stack them and you get the formal garment worn for rites and ceremonies: ceremonial dress or robes.
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.
服 — 月 (moon/flesh) + 𠬝 (kneeling figure with hand)
Originally depicted a hand subduing a kneeling person beside a boat (later simplified to 月), suggesting submission or service. The meaning extended from 'submit/serve' to 'clothing' (what one wears in service) and 'to take' as in medicine. The phonetic role of 𠬝 helps fix the reading fú.