今夜
こんや · konya · JLPT N4 · noun
evening
🌙 今夜 = now (今) + night (夜): the night that is now
今 means now or this, as in 今日 (today) and 今月 (this month). 夜 is night, read ya here. Swap 今日's day for night and you get tonight. Sound hook: kon-ya, like cognac, a drink for tonight.
夜 — 亠 lid + 亻 person + 夕 evening moon
夜 originally depicted a person (亻) under a roof (亠) with the moon (夕) beside them, evoking nighttime rest. The moon component 夕 carries the meaning of evening, while the surrounding elements set the scene of a person at night. Over time it came to mean 'night' in general.