包装
ほうそう · housou · JLPT N3 · noun
packing material
📦🎁 包装 = wrap + dress up: you dress the gift in its wrapping
包 means to wrap or bundle (as in 小包, parcel), and 装 means to dress or fit out (as in 服装, clothing). Packing a thing is giving it an outfit to travel in. Sound hook: housou, as in the shop asking 'how so?', boxed or gift-wrapped?
包 — 勹 wrap + 巳 fetus
包 is a pictograph showing a fetus (巳) wrapped inside a womb (勹, an enclosing shape). The original sense was 'to wrap' or 'enclose,' and it later extended to mean a bundle, package, or bag. It also serves as a phonetic component in many characters like 抱, 泡, and 饱.
装 — clothes 衣 + strong 壮 (phonetic)
装 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The bottom 衣 ('clothes') gives the meaning, since the original sense was packing or dressing—putting clothes or goods into a bundle. The top 壮 supplies the sound. Meanings extended from 'to dress/attire' to 'to load, install, pretend'.