本
ほん · hon · JLPT N5 · noun
book
📖 hon: a book you HONour by reading it to the end
本 is 木 (tree) plus one short stroke at the base marking the root. Root led to origin, then to the source text, then to book. The same root sense appears in 日本 (Nihon), the sun's origin.
本 — tree 木 + mark at base
本 is a pictograph of a tree (木) with a stroke at its base, marking the roots. From this 'root' meaning it extended to 'origin,' 'source,' and 'foundation.' In modern usage it also serves as a measure word for bound objects like books.