洗面
せんめん · senmen · JLPT N2 · noun
wash up
🧼💧 洗 (wash) + 面 (face) = senmen: wash one's face, a compound of two plain kanji meanings
The kanji 洗 means wash and 面 means face or surface, so 洗面 is literally face-washing. The same 面 appears in 洗面所, the washroom.
洗 — water radical 氵 + 先 (xiān)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 indicates the meaning (washing with water), while 先 supplies the sound, originally close to xiǎn/xǐ. The character has long meant 'to wash' or 'rinse,' and by extension 'to cleanse' or 'wash away.'
面 — enclosure 囗 + 自 (nose/face inside)
Originally a pictograph showing a face framed by an outline, with 自 (nose) inside representing the central feature of the face. The early meaning was 'face,' which extended to 'surface,' 'side,' and 'aspect.' In simplified Chinese, 面 also absorbed 麵, adding the meaning 'flour/noodles.'