设想
shèxiǎng · HSK 5
imagine
💭 设 (set up) + 想 (think) = set up a thought, i.e. suppose
设 means establish or set up; 想 means think. Together: to set up a thought in advance — to suppose, assume, or consider hypothetically. Often used like 'let us suppose that...'
设 — speech 讠 + hand holding tool 殳
设 combines 讠 (speech) with 殳 (a hand wielding a tool or weapon), suggesting giving orders to set something up. The original sense was to arrange or establish through command, which extended to today's meanings of 'set up,' 'design,' or 'suppose.'
想 — heart 心 + 相 (xiāng, phonetic)
想 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning, since classical Chinese located thought and feeling in the heart. The top component 相 (xiāng) supplies the sound, and over time the character settled into the senses 'to think,' 'to want,' and 'to miss.'