享受
きょうじゅ · kyouju · JLPT N3 · noun
enjoyment
🎁 享受 = enjoy (享) + receive (受): you enjoy what you are given
享 means to enjoy or partake, and 受 means to receive. Put together, kyouju means enjoying something you have been given, like rights, benefits or blessings. Sound hook: kyou-ju, cue the juice, then enjoy it.
享 — 亠 lid + 口 mouth + 子 child (from 亯/享)
享 originally depicted a tall ancestral shrine or temple where offerings were presented to spirits and ancestors. The early form 亯 showed a raised building on a base, symbolizing ritual sacrifice. Over time the meaning shifted from 'offer to the gods' to 'receive and enjoy' what is offered, giving today's senses of enjoying or sharing.
受 — hand 爫 (top) + 冖 + hand 又 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph showing two hands passing an object (the middle 冖 represented a boat or tray) between them. It depicted the act of giving and receiving, so the character meant both 'to give' and 'to receive.' Later 授 was created with the hand radical 扌 to mean 'give,' leaving 受 to mean 'receive' or 'accept.'