数字
すうじ · suuji · JLPT N3 · noun
numeral
🔢 数字 = count (数) + written character (字): a character for counting
数 means number or to count; 字 means a written character, as in 漢字 (kanji) and 文字 (letter). So 数字 is literally a number-character: the written symbol for a number, i.e. a numeral or figure.
数 — 婁 (lóu, phonetic) + 攵 (action radical)
数 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 攵 (a hand holding a stick) suggests an action, originally tallying or counting by striking marks. The left side 婁 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'to count' to 'number' and 'several'.
字 — roof 宀 + child 子
Originally depicted a child 子 under a roof 宀, suggesting birth or rearing a child in the home. The meaning later extended to 'to give birth, nurture' and then to 'written character', since characters were seen as offspring derived from earlier pictographs.