原稿
げんこう · genkou · JLPT N2 · noun
manuscript
📄 原 (original) + 稿 (draft) = original draft, i.e. the manuscript
原 means origin or original, and 稿 means draft or written text. A 原稿 is the original written draft that gets prepared for printing, which is why it also means the copy sent to a printer.
原 — cliff 厂 + spring 泉 (white 白 + water 水)
Originally a pictograph showing a spring of water flowing out from beneath a cliff, depicting the source of a stream. From this concrete image of a water source, the meaning extended to 'origin,' 'source,' and 'original.' A separate character 源 was later created with the water radical 氵 to keep the literal 'spring' sense.