力
ちから · chikara · JLPT N4 · noun
strength
💪 Etymology: 力 began as a drawing of a plough, the tool that takes strength
Sound hook: chi-ka-ra shares its ka-ra with karate, another word about bodily power. Compound hook: 力 sits inside 男 (man = field 田 + strength 力), so the character keeps its sense of muscle put to work.
力 — pictograph of a plow or arm muscle
力 originated as a pictograph of an ancient plow, the main tool requiring physical exertion in early agriculture. Some scholars also see it as a flexed arm showing muscle. From this concrete image it broadened to mean 'strength, power, force, effort'.