蛋糕
dàn gāo · HSK 5
cake
🎂 蛋糕 = egg (蛋) + cake/pastry (糕)
蛋 means egg and 糕 means cake or pastry — together they name the classic egg-based baked sweet. 糕 also appears in 年糕 (new year rice cake) and 蛋糕店 (cake shop).
蛋 — top 疋 (cloth/foot) + bottom 虫 (insect/creature)
蛋 originally referred to an egg, with 虫 ('creature') as the semantic component indicating something laid by reptiles, birds, or insects. The upper 疋 element here functions largely as a phonetic marker rather than carrying meaning. Over time, 蛋 broadened from 'egg' to also mean a rounded, egg-shaped object.