解釈
かいしゃく · kaishaku · JLPT N3 · noun
interpretation
🪢🔑 解釈 = untie + explain: you undo the knot of a meaning
解 (to untie, solve) is built from knife 刀, horn 角 and ox 牛, an old sign for cutting an ox into its parts. 釈 means to explain or release, as in 釈明 (an explanation). Undoing a meaning and explaining it gives you an interpretation.
解 — horn 角 + knife 刀 + ox 牛
解 is an ideograph showing hands using a knife (刀) to separate the horn (角) from an ox (牛). The original meaning was to butcher or dismember an ox, which broadened to 'untie, separate, loosen,' and then extended figuratively to 'explain' or 'understand'—to take something apart mentally.