万年筆
まんねんひつ · mannenhitsu · JLPT N5 · noun
fountain pen
🖋️ 万年筆 = ten thousand + years + brush: the pen that writes for 10,000 years
万 (man) is ten thousand, 年 (nen) is year, 筆 (hitsu) is writing brush. A brush needs constant dipping; a fountain pen carries its own ink, so it was named the brush that lasts ten thousand years.
万 — top 一 + 𠃌 (hook) over 丿
Originally a pictograph of a scorpion, used in oracle bone script. It was borrowed phonetically to mean 'ten thousand' and the original scorpion sense was lost. The traditional form 萬 shows the scorpion more clearly; 万 is a simplified variant long used as a common shorthand.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.