女優
じょゆう · joyuu · JLPT N3 · noun
actress
🎭 女優 = woman (女) + performer (優)
女 (jo) means woman; 優 (yuu) means gentle or superior, and also performer, as in 俳優 (haiyuu, actor). Swap in 男 for man and you get 男優 (danyuu), a male actor. So joyuu is literally a woman performer.
女 — pictograph of a kneeling woman
女 is a pictograph originating in oracle bone script, depicting a person kneeling with arms crossed in front, a posture associated with women in ancient China. Over time the form was simplified and squared off into the modern character. Its core meaning of 'woman' or 'female' has remained stable for over three thousand years.