胖
pàng · HSK 3
fat
🐷 胖 = 月 (flesh radical) + 半 (half) — fleshy half, i.e. plump
The 月 radical on the left marks body/flesh words (think 肚, 脸, 腰). 半 (bàn, half) gives a rough phonetic nudge toward pàng. Together: a body that is, shall we say, generously halved.
胖 — flesh radical 月(肉) + 半 bàn (half)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The 月 element here is the 'flesh/meat' radical (肉), indicating something about the body, while 半 supplies the sound (bàn → pàng). The original sense referred to the half-side of a sacrificial animal's meat, later shifting to mean 'fat' or 'plump' in reference to a well-fleshed body.