学生
がくせい · gakusei · JLPT N5 · noun
student
🎓 学生 = study (学) + life/person (生): one who lives to learn
学 (gaku) means learning, as in 学校 school and 大学 university. 生 (sei) means life or a person in a role, as in 先生 teacher. So gaku-sei is literally a learning-person: a student.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.
生 — sprout 屮 above earth 土
Originally a pictograph showing a young plant sprouting from the ground, with 屮 (a sprout) above 土 (earth). The core meaning is 'to be born, to grow, to live,' which extends to 'raw, unripe, unfamiliar.' The modern form has simplified the sprout shape but preserves the image of new growth emerging from soil.