秘书
mìshū · HSK 4
secretary
📝 秘 (secret) + 书 (writing/documents) = one who handles secret documents
秘 means secret/confidential and 书 means book or written documents. A 秘书 is literally a keeper of confidential writings — the modern secretary who manages private correspondence and records.
书 — hand 又 holding brush over 曰 (say/speak)
Originally a pictograph of a hand gripping a writing brush above a mouth or vessel, depicting the act of writing speech down. The traditional form 書 shows 聿 (brush) over 曰 (to say). Simplified 书 preserves the brush-in-hand shape, and the meaning extended from 'to write' to 'writing' and then 'book'.