香烟
xiāngyān · HSK 7
cigarette
🚬 香烟 = 香 (fragrant) + 烟 (smoke): fragrant smoke = a cigarette or incense
The two characters stack literally: 香 means fragrant/incense and 烟 means smoke. Together they name the scented smoke you get from a burning cigarette or a stick of incense.
香 — grain 禾 over sun 日 (originally 甘 'sweet')
Originally an ideograph showing grain (禾) over a vessel of sweet/savory taste (甘), depicting the aroma of cooked millet. Over time the lower 甘 was simplified to 日. The character broadened from 'fragrance of grain' to any pleasant smell, and by extension 'incense' and 'delicious'.
烟 — fire radical 火 + 因 (cause, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 火 ('fire') gives the meaning, while 因 supplies the sound 'yīn', close to 'yān'. Originally referring to the smoke rising from a fire, 烟 later extended to mist, vapor, and eventually tobacco and cigarettes in modern usage.