胃

い · i · JLPT N3 · noun

stomach

胃 — stomach

🍚 胃 = 田 (grain) + ⺼ (flesh): the body part that holds your food

The top 田 is not a rice field here. It started as a stomach sack with grain inside. ⺼ is the flesh radical used for body parts, as in 肺 (lung) and 腸 (intestines). 胃腸 means stomach and intestines.

胃 — 田 (field, depicting stomach contents) + 月 (flesh radical)
Originally a pictograph showing a stomach filled with grain or food on top of the flesh radical 月 (meat/body). The top component, now written as 田, depicted the stomach's contents rather than a field. The character has consistently meant 'stomach' throughout its history.

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