米
こめ · kome · JLPT N4 · noun
rice
🌾 kome: rice has COME from the field, not yet cooked
Kome sounds like come: the grain has come in from the harvest but has not reached the pot. Once cooked it changes name to gohan or meshi. The kanji 米 is a pictograph of grains scattered around a stalk.
米 — pictograph of rice grains separated by a thresher
米 is a pictograph showing grains of rice scattered around a central horizontal line, originally depicting kernels separated from the husk on a threshing surface. In oracle bone script the dots clearly represent individual grains. The meaning has stayed remarkably stable, referring to husked, uncooked rice and by extension other small grains.