精神
せいしん · seishin · JLPT N3 · noun
mind
🧠 精神 = refined essence (精) + spirit (神): your purest inner spirit
精 means refined or essence (as in 精米, polished rice), and 神 means god or spirit (as in 神社, shrine). Together they mean your distilled inner self: mind, soul and spirit. Sound hook: say-shin, you say it from the shin up, with full spirit.
精 — rice 米 + blue/green 青 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 米 (rice) gives the meaning, while 青 supplies the sound. Originally referred to polished, refined rice — grain with the husk removed. The sense broadened to 'refined, pure, essence,' and later 'fine, skilled, spirit.'
神 — 示 (altar/spirit) + 申 (lightning, phonetic)
神 combines 示, depicting an altar associated with rituals and spirits, with 申, originally a pictograph of lightning streaking across the sky. Ancient people saw lightning as a manifestation of divine power, so 申 contributes both sound and the idea of awe-inspiring force. Together they mean 'spirit' or 'god'.