大凡
おおよそ · ooyoso · JLPT N2 · noun
about
大凡 = big + general: speaking in big, general terms, so roughly
大 means big and 凡 means ordinary or in general, so together they mean speaking broadly, not exactly. The sound helps too: oo-yoso has so-so in it, and so-so is only approximately right.
大 — pictograph of a person with arms outstretched
大 is a pictograph showing a person standing with arms and legs spread wide. The outstretched arms suggest 'big' or 'great', extending from the literal image of a large stance to abstract meanings like important or grand. It is one of the oldest characters, found on oracle bones.
凡 — 几 enclosing a dot 丶
凡 originally depicted a flat tray or sail-like surface, shown as a frame with a small mark inside. From the idea of a plain, common container, it shifted to mean 'ordinary' or 'all in general'. The modern shape keeps the simple frame but no longer resembles a tray.