無料
むりょう · muryou · JLPT N3 · na-adj
free
🆓 無料 = no + fee: 無 means without, 料 means charge or fee
無 (mu) means nothing or without, as in 無理 (muri). 料 (ryou) means fee or charge, as in 料金 (ryoukin). So without a fee means free of charge. Look for 無料 on signs offering free Wi-Fi or free samples.
料 — rice 米 + dipper 斗
料 combines 米 (rice/grain) with 斗 (a measuring dipper), depicting the act of measuring out grain. From this concrete sense it extended to 'to measure, estimate, anticipate' and to 'materials' (things measured out for use), as in 材料 'materials' and 预料 'to anticipate'.