胶片
jiāo piàn · HSK 7
film
🎞️ 胶 glue + 片 thin sheet = the gluey thin strip a camera shoots on
片 piàn means a flat thin slice or sheet (same 片 as in 照片 photo). 胶 jiāo is glue or gelatin, the emulsion coating. Together: the thin gelatin-coated strip that is photographic film.
片 — right half of 木 (tree split vertically)
Pictograph showing the right half of a tree 木 split down the middle, depicting a thin slice or slab of wood. From this came the meanings 'slice,' 'flat thin piece,' and by extension 'sheet' or 'card.' Its mirror image 爿 represents the left half.