雪
xuě · HSK 2
snow
❄️ Top 雨 (rain) over 彐 (hand sweeping) — frozen rain you brush away
Oracle-bone form shows rain 雨 plus a hand gathering it; snow is rain solid enough to grasp. Modern 彐 is the simplified hand component. Tone xuě is third (falling-rising), like the dip-and-lift of brushing snow off a sleeve.
雪 — rain 雨 + hand 彐 (originally broom 帚)
Originally an ideograph showing rain 雨 above a hand holding a broom, suggesting snow as 'rain that can be swept.' Over time the broom element simplified to 彐. The character has always meant snow, with later extended senses like 'to wipe away' (as in 雪恥, to wipe out shame).