掃除

そうじ (する) · souji (suru) · JLPT N5 · noun

cleaning

🧹 掃除 = sweep (掃) + remove (除): sweep the dirt away

掃 means to sweep (as in 掃く, haku) and 除 means to remove or get rid of (as in 除く, nozoku). Sweep plus remove gives cleaning. Add する to make the verb: 掃除する, to clean.

除 — left ear/mound 阝 + surplus 余
除 combines the 'mound/steps' radical 阝 (originally 阜, a hill) with 余 as the phonetic. It first meant the steps of a palace, then extended to 'remove' or 'clear away' (as one sweeps steps clean), and later to mathematical 'divide.'

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