暗記
あんき · anki · JLPT N3 · noun
learning by heart
🧠📖 暗記 = dark + record: writing it down where you can no longer see it
暗 means dark or hidden, and 記 means to write down or record. To memorise is to record something you can still recite with the page out of sight. Bonus hook: Anki, the flashcard app, is named after this word.
暗 — sun 日 + sound 音 (phonetic)
暗 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 日 (sun) component carries the meaning, suggesting absence of sunlight, while 音 (yīn, sound) provides the phonetic clue for the reading àn. Originally meaning 'dark' or 'dim,' it later extended to figurative senses like 'hidden' or 'secret.'