窑
yáo · HSK 7
kiln
🏺🔥 穴 (cave) over 缶 (clay pot) = a cave where you fire pottery: a kiln
Etymology splits cleanly: the 穴 cave radical sits on top of 缶, the pictograph for an earthen jar. A kiln is literally a cave-like furnace for baking clay vessels, which is why 窑 also means cave dwelling. Sound hook: yáo rhymes with yow.
窑 — cave radical 穴 + 缶 (jar)
窑 combines 穴 'cave/hollow' on top with 缶 'earthen jar' below, depicting a cave-like kiln used to fire pottery. The original sense was a pottery kiln dug into a hillside, and it later extended to mean kiln in general and cave dwellings (yaodong) in northern China.