小さい
ちいさい · chiisai · JLPT N5 · i-adj
little
🐭 chiisai sounds like teeny-sai: a teeny, small thing
The kanji 小 means small, and the long chii stretches out like the ee in teeny or wee. The ending さい is the regular い-adjective tail, so 小 + さい = small. Its opposite is 大きい (ookii), big.
小 — three small strokes around a central vertical
小 is a pictograph originally showing three tiny dots or specks, suggesting small particles or grains. Over time the dots became stylized strokes flanking a central line. The core meaning 'small' has stayed remarkably stable from oracle bone script to today.