风力
fēng lì · HSK 7
wind force
💨 风 (wind) + 力 (force/power) = wind force / wind power
风 means wind and 力 means strength or force. Together 风力 is literally wind-force, used for wind speed/intensity and for wind power as an energy source (e.g. 风力发电 = wind power generation).
风 — 几 (table) + 虫 (insect)
Originally written 鳳 (phoenix), later simplified. The traditional form 風 contains 虫 (insect), reflecting an old belief that wind brought insects or that creatures stirred with the wind. The modern simplified 风 keeps 几 as an outer frame around 㐅.
力 — pictograph of a plow or arm muscle
力 originated as a pictograph of an ancient plow, the main tool requiring physical exertion in early agriculture. Some scholars also see it as a flexed arm showing muscle. From this concrete image it broadened to mean 'strength, power, force, effort'.