化学
かがく · kagaku · JLPT N3 · noun
chemistry
🧪⚗️ 化学 = change + study: chemistry is the study of how substances change
化 means to change or transform, as in 変化 (henka, change). 学 means study, as in 学生 (gakusei, student). Chemistry is the science of how one substance turns into another. Chinese uses the same compound, read huàxué.
化 — person 亻 + spoon/upside-down person 匕
化 is an associative compound showing a standing person 亻 next to 匕, originally a depiction of a person turned upside-down. Together they suggest a figure transforming from one state to another, giving the core meaning 'change' or 'transform'. The character later extended to senses like 'convert', 'influence', and the noun suffix '-ization'.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.