太鼓
たいこ · taiko · JLPT N2 · noun
drum
🥁 太 = big + 鼓 = drum, so 太鼓 is the big drum
鼓 alone also means drum, and 太 adds the sense of big or great. The word also names the Japanese drum ensemble that plays large drums.
太 — 大 'big' + extra dot 丶
太 originally derived from 大 ('big, person with arms outstretched') with an added stroke to mean 'greatest' or 'too much'. The extra dot intensifies 大, signaling something beyond merely big. Over time it came to mean 'very', 'too', or 'highest'.
鼓 — 壴 (drum on stand) + 攴 (hand with stick)
鼓 is a pictograph showing a drum mounted on a stand (壴) being struck by a hand holding a stick (攴/支). It originally depicted the act of beating a drum, and the meaning naturally extended from the instrument itself to the verb 'to beat, to rouse, to encourage.'