欧米
おうべい · oubei · JLPT N2 · noun
united states
🌍 欧米 = Eu(rope) + (A)meri(ca): Europe + America, together the West
欧 is short for 欧羅巴 (Europe), and 米 is short for 亜米利加 (America). The characters were picked for their sound, which is why 米 (rice) means America in Japanese. Put the two short forms together and you get the West.
米 — pictograph of rice grains separated by a thresher
米 is a pictograph showing grains of rice scattered around a central horizontal line, originally depicting kernels separated from the husk on a threshing surface. In oracle bone script the dots clearly represent individual grains. The meaning has stayed remarkably stable, referring to husked, uncooked rice and by extension other small grains.