笑顔
えがお · egao · JLPT N3 · noun
smile
😊 笑顔 = laugh + face: a laughing face is a smile
笑 (e, from warau, to laugh) + 顔 (gao, from kao, face; k softens to g in compounds). Sound hook: egao sounds like 'eh, go!', a cheerful thing to say with a smile.
笑 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 夭 (yāo, bending)
Originally written with the bamboo radical over 夭, depicting a person bending or swaying. One traditional reading is that bamboo bends in the wind like a person doubling over with laughter. The character has meant 'laugh, smile' since early times, with no major shift in meaning.