积蓄
jī xù · HSK 7
to save
🐷💰 积蓄 = 积 accumulate + 蓄 store up = what you store up over time: savings
积 means to pile up or accumulate; 蓄 means to store or hold in reserve. Together they name the slow gathering of money set aside, hence to save and the savings themselves.
积 — grain radical 禾 + 责 (phonetic)
积 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 禾 (grain) gives the meaning, while 责 supplies the sound. It originally referred to piling up harvested grain, which extended to the general sense of 'accumulate' or 'amass'. The simplified form replaced the older 積.