要旨
ようし · youshi · JLPT N2 · noun
effect
📝 要 = essential + 旨 = purpose or meaning, so 要旨 = the essential meaning, the gist
要 means essential or key point, and 旨 means purpose or meaning. Together they name the core point of a text, its gist or summary. Read it as the key-point summary of a document.
要 — west 覀 (top) + woman 女 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph of a woman with hands on her waist, meaning 'waist' (the original form of 腰). The top 覀 is a stylized depiction of the waist area, not the character for 'west'. Over time it was borrowed for the meaning 'to want, important', so 腰 (with 月 flesh radical) was created for the original 'waist' sense.