白

しろ · shiro · JLPT N5 · noun

white

🥚🍚 shiro: she rows a white boat; shiroi (white) adds -i to this noun

Shiro sounds like she-row. It is the noun for white; the adjective is shiroi. The kanji 白 also reads haku in compounds like 白鳥 (hakuchō, swan = white + bird). Shiromi is egg white: shiro + mi (body).

白 — pictograph; resembles 日 (sun) with a stroke on top
白 is generally considered a pictograph, traditionally explained as depicting the sun rising with a ray of light above it, hence the meaning 'white' or 'bright.' Some scholars instead see it as a drawing of a thumbnail or an acorn. From 'bright' it extended to 'clear,' 'plain,' and 'to state plainly.'

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