色
いろ · iro · JLPT N5 · noun
color
🎨 iro sounds like hero: every hero wears a signature color
Say iro and hero side by side: ee-ro, hee-ro. Superheroes are known by their colors, so the near-rhyme ties the sound to the meaning. 色 also appears in 茶色 (chairo, tea-color = brown) and 黄色 (kiiro, yellow).
色 — person 人 (top) + kneeling figure 卩 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph showing one person above another, traditionally interpreted as depicting facial expressions or intimate posture between two people. The earliest meaning was 'facial expression' or 'countenance,' which extended to 'appearance' and eventually 'color' (the look of things). The 'shǎi' reading is a colloquial variant used for everyday color words.