押し入れ
おしいれ · oshiire · JLPT N4 · noun
cupboard
🚪 押し入れ = push (押し) + put in (入れ): the closet you push things into
From 押す (osu, to push) and 入れる (ireru, to put in). An oshiire is the deep sliding-door closet in a Japanese room where futons get pushed in and stored each morning. Push + put in = closet.
押 — hand radical 扌 + 甲 (jiǎ, phonetic)
押 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 supplies the meaning of pressing or holding down with the hand, while 甲 gives the sound. From the literal sense of pressing, it extended to signing/sealing documents, mortgaging, and detaining — all involving an authoritative 'pressing' action.
入 — single pictograph, two slanting strokes
入 is a pictograph showing an arrowhead or pointed entrance, with two strokes converging downward to suggest something going inward. The original sense was 'to enter,' and it still carries that meaning today. It contrasts visually with 人 (person), where the strokes cross differently at the top.