闻名
wénmíng · HSK 7
famous
👂📛 闻 hear + 名 name = a name people hear everywhere = famous, known by repute
闻 means to hear (also to smell), 名 means name. Something 闻名 is so well-known that its name reaches everyone's ears. Often paired as 闻名世界 = world-famous.
闻 — gate 門 (phonetic) + ear 耳
Originally a pictograph of a person cupping a hand to the ear to listen, later restructured as a semantic-phonetic compound: 耳 (ear) gives the meaning and 門 (gate) supplies the sound. The core sense 'to hear' extended to 'news' and 'to smell', since both involve perceiving something from a distance.
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.