枝
えだ · eda · JLPT N4 · noun
branch
🌿 枝 = tree (木) + 支 (support/branch off): the part of a tree that branches off
The left side 木 means tree; the right side 支 means to branch off or support, and also appears in 支店 (branch office). For the sound: eda sounds like Edda, the Norse poems about Yggdrasil, the world tree with far-reaching branches.
枝 — wood 木 + branch 支 (phonetic)
枝 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 木 component signals 'tree/wood,' while 支 ('branch, to support') gives both the sound 'zhī' and reinforces the meaning. Together they denote a branch or limb of a tree, the literal extension of 支 specialized for woody plants.