再三
さいさん · saisan · JLPT N2 · adverb
again and again
再 = again + 三 = three: again, and again, three times over, so repeatedly
再 means again and 三 means three, which stands for a few times. Together they mean repeating an action again and again, often to stress how often it happens.
再 — top 一 + 冂 frame + 土-like inner strokes
再 originally depicted a stack of fish or piled objects, suggesting accumulation or repetition. Over time it came to mean 'again' or 'once more,' emphasizing a second occurrence of an action. The modern form is stylized and no longer clearly pictographic.
三 — three horizontal strokes 一 + 一 + 一
三 is a pictographic numeral: three stacked horizontal lines representing the number three, parallel to 一 (one) and 二 (two). The form has been stable since oracle bone script. It carries no phonetic component; the meaning 'three' is direct and visual.