日常
にちじょう · nichijou · JLPT N3 · na-adj
everyday
📅 日常 = day + constant: what stays the same day after day
日 (nichi) means day and 常 (jou) means constant or usual, as in 常に, always. Together they mean everyday or ordinary. 日常生活 is daily life, and the anime Nichijou is translated as My Ordinary Life.
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.
常 — 巾 (cloth) + 尚 (phonetic, 'esteem')
Originally written 裳, 常 was a phono-semantic compound: 巾 ('cloth') gave the meaning and 尚 supplied the sound, referring to a long lower garment or skirt. Over time the meaning shifted from 'everyday garment' to 'ordinary, regular, constant', while 裳 took over the original clothing sense.