美女
měinǔ · HSK 4
looker
💃 美 (beautiful) + 女 (woman) = a stunning woman
美 combines 羊 (sheep, prized) over 大 (big) — an ancient sign of value and beauty. 女 is the woman radical. Together: a beautiful woman, hence looker or bombshell.
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'.
女 — pictograph of a kneeling woman
女 is a pictograph originating in oracle bone script, depicting a person kneeling with arms crossed in front, a posture associated with women in ancient China. Over time the form was simplified and squared off into the modern character. Its core meaning of 'woman' or 'female' has remained stable for over three thousand years.