美丽
měilì · HSK 3
beautiful
🌸 美 = 大 (big) + 羊 (sheep); 丽 = pair, so 美丽 = doubly lovely
美 originally showed a big 大 sheep 羊 — fat sheep meant good, hence beautiful. 丽 depicts a pair of deer antlers, meaning paired or elegant. Together 美丽 stacks two beauty words for emphasis.
美 — sheep 羊 on top + big 大 below
美 is traditionally explained as a pictograph of a person (大) wearing a large sheep or ram's-head ornament, suggesting beauty through adornment. An alternative reading takes 羊 (sheep) over 大 (big) to mean 'a big, fat sheep'—seen as delicious and pleasing, hence 'beautiful, good'.