人命
じんめい · jinmei · JLPT N2 · noun
life
人命 = 人 (person) + 命 (life): a person's life, so 'human life'.
人 means person and 命 means life or fate, so the compound reads as a person's life. The sound jinmei is also close to 'gin-may', but the meaning comes from the two characters.
人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.
命 — 亼 (gather) + 卩 (kneeling person) + 口 (mouth)
Originally depicted a kneeling figure receiving an oral command from above, combining 令 (order) with an added 口 (mouth) for emphasis. The image of authority issuing decrees extended from 'command' to 'mandate' and then 'destiny, life,' as one's fate was seen as decreed by Heaven.