脱落
tuō luò · HSK 7
to drop off
🍂 脱 = shed/take off + 落 = fall = something sheds and falls away
脱 means to shed or take off, and 落 means to fall. Together they describe parts coming off and dropping: hair falling out, paint flaking off, or a character left out when writing.
脱 — flesh radical 月 (肉) + 兑 tuì (phonetic)
脱 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The flesh radical 月 (from 肉) signals the body, while 兑 supplies the sound. Originally it meant shedding flesh or skin, like a snake molting, and broadened to mean 'to take off, slip off, or escape.'
落 — grass radical 艹 + 洛 (water 氵 + 各)
Originally written with the grass radical 艹 over 洛, depicting leaves falling from plants. 洛 serves as the phonetic component (giving the luò sound) while 艹 supplies the meaning of vegetation. The sense extended from 'leaves falling' to the general meaning of falling, dropping, or settling down.