微笑む
ほほえむ · hohoemu · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to smile
😊 微 slight + 笑 laugh = a slight laugh, a smile; hoho-emu, a soft ho-ho
微 means slight or faint, and 笑 means laugh, so 微笑む is a laugh turned down low: a smile. The reading hohoemu starts with hoho, which sounds like a quiet chuckle. The same kanji give 微笑 (bishō), a formal word for a smile.
笑 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 夭 (yāo, bending)
Originally written with the bamboo radical over 夭, depicting a person bending or swaying. One traditional reading is that bamboo bends in the wind like a person doubling over with laughter. The character has meant 'laugh, smile' since early times, with no major shift in meaning.