粉末

ふんまつ · funmatsu · JLPT N1 · noun

powder

粉末 — powder

粉 — rice 米 + divide 分
A semantic-phonetic compound: 米 (rice/grain) gives the meaning, while 分 (fēn, 'divide') hints at the sound. It originally referred to rice flour or finely ground powder, then extended to any powder and to the pale pinkish color of such powders.

末 — tree 木 with extended top stroke marking the tip
末 is an indicative character: it shows the tree 木 with an emphasized horizontal line near the top to point at the treetop, the 'tip' or 'end' of the branches. From this concrete sense it extended to mean 'end,' 'final,' or 'minor/trivial' (as opposed to the root 本).

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