和服
わふく · wafuku · JLPT N2 · noun
apparel
👘 和 = Japanese style + 服 = clothes, so 和服 = Japanese clothes
和 (wa) means Japan or Japanese style, as in 和食 washoku (Japanese food). 服 (fuku) means clothing, as in 洋服 yōfuku (Western clothes), which is the contrast here.
和 — grain 禾 (phonetic) + mouth 口
和 is a phono-semantic compound: 禾 (grain) gives the sound and 口 (mouth) hints at meaning, originally suggesting voices joining in agreement or song. From this it came to mean harmony, peace, and 'together with'. In Japanese it also became the native word for Japan itself.
服 — 月 (moon/flesh) + 𠬝 (kneeling figure with hand)
Originally depicted a hand subduing a kneeling person beside a boat (later simplified to 月), suggesting submission or service. The meaning extended from 'submit/serve' to 'clothing' (what one wears in service) and 'to take' as in medicine. The phonetic role of 𠬝 helps fix the reading fú.