要点
ようてん · youten · JLPT N3 · noun
effect
📌 要点 = essential (要) + point (点): the essential point, the gist
要 means needed or essential, as in 必要 (necessary), and 点 means a point or dot. Put them together and you get the point that matters most. Sound hook: yo, ten words: give me the gist in ten words.
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.
点 — fire radical 灬 + 占 (zhān, phonetic)
Originally written 點, a semantic-phonetic compound: 黑 (black) gave the meaning 'small black mark or dot' while 占 supplied the sound. It first referred to ink spots, then extended to 'point, drop, a little,' and verbs like 'to mark' or 'to light (a fire),' reflected in the simplified form's 灬 (fire) component.