商品
しょうひん · shouhin · JLPT N3 · noun
commodity
🛍️ 商品 = trade (商) + goods (品): goods for trade
商 (shou) means commerce, as in 商売 (business) and 商店 (shop). 品 (hin) means goods or articles, as in 食品 (food products) and 作品 (a work). Put together: articles made for commerce, i.e. merchandise.
商 — 亠 lid + 丷 + 冏 window/enclosure
In oracle bone script 商 depicted a raised platform or altar-like structure, and it served as the name of the Shang dynasty and its capital region. The modern components are a late simplification of that pictograph and carry no separate meaning. The sense 'trade, merchant' arose later, traditionally linked to Shang people who travelled to buy and sell after their dynasty fell.
品 — three 口 (mouth) stacked
品 is an ideogram showing three 口 (mouths or openings) piled together. The repetition of 口 suggests many people, items, or voices, which gave rise to meanings like 'kinds,' 'goods,' 'rank,' and 'to taste/judge.' The triple stacking is a common Chinese device for indicating plurality or variety.