手帳

てちょう · techou · JLPT N2 · noun

notebook

📓 手 (hand) + 帳 (ledger): a record book you carry in your hand

手帳 is a pocket planner or diary you carry around. 手 means hand and 帳 means ledger or record book, so together they name a hand-carried notebook.

手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.

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