神仙
shén xiān · HSK 7
supernatural entity
🧚✨ 神仙 = 神 god/spirit + 仙 immortal; a deity-immortal of Daoist legend
神 means god or spirit; 仙 means immortal or transcendent being (a person 人 who has gone to the mountains 山). Stacked together they name a Daoist immortal, and in modern fiction a fairy or elf.
神 — 示 (altar/spirit) + 申 (lightning, phonetic)
神 combines 示, depicting an altar associated with rituals and spirits, with 申, originally a pictograph of lightning streaking across the sky. Ancient people saw lightning as a manifestation of divine power, so 申 contributes both sound and the idea of awe-inspiring force. Together they mean 'spirit' or 'god'.