生き物
いきもの · ikimono · JLPT N3 · noun
living thing
🐾🌱 生き (living, from 生きる to live) + 物 (mono, thing) = living thing
生き is the stem of 生きる, to live, and 物 (mono) means a physical thing, as in 食べ物 (food, literally eat-thing). So a living thing is literally a live-thing. It covers animals, insects and sometimes plants.
生 — sprout 屮 above earth 土
Originally a pictograph showing a young plant sprouting from the ground, with 屮 (a sprout) above 土 (earth). The core meaning is 'to be born, to grow, to live,' which extends to 'raw, unripe, unfamiliar.' The modern form has simplified the sprout shape but preserves the image of new growth emerging from soil.