一生
いっしょう · isshou · JLPT N3 · noun
life
🌱 一生 = one + life: your one whole life, start to finish
一 means one and 生 means life or birth. Together they mean one entire lifetime, as in 一生懸命 (with all your might, literally staking your whole life on it). For the sound: isshou, it's sure for life.
一 — single horizontal stroke
一 is one of the simplest pictographs in Chinese, depicting a single horizontal line to represent the number one. It has retained essentially the same form since oracle bone script over 3,000 years ago. By extension it also means 'first,' 'whole,' or 'same.'
生 — sprout 屮 above earth 土
Originally a pictograph showing a young plant sprouting from the ground, with 屮 (a sprout) above 土 (earth). The core meaning is 'to be born, to grow, to live,' which extends to 'raw, unripe, unfamiliar.' The modern form has simplified the sprout shape but preserves the image of new growth emerging from soil.