股市
gǔshì · HSK 7
stock market
📈💹 股 = share/stock + 市 = market
股 originally meant thigh, then a portion or share; 市 is a marketplace. Together: the market where shares trade. Same 股 appears in 股东 (shareholder) and 股票 (stock certificate).
股 — meat/flesh 月 (肉) + weapon 殳
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 月 (a form of 肉 'flesh') gives the meaning of a body part — the thigh — while 殳 hints at the sound. The thigh meaning extended to 'section' or 'portion,' and from there to modern senses like a strand of something or a share of stock.
市 — top 亠 + cloth 巾
Originally a pictograph of a marketplace banner or sign post above a stall, indicating a place of trade. The character came to mean 'market', and by extension 'city' or 'town', since markets were the centers of urban life. The modern form combines a top stroke with 巾 (cloth/banner).