費用
ひよう · hiyou · JLPT N3 · noun
cost
💴 費用 = spend (費) + use (用): what you spend to use something
費 means expense or fee, as in 会費 (membership fee) and 消費 (consumption). 用 means use or purpose, as in 使用 (use). Together they mean the money a thing costs you. The reading hiyou sounds a bit like he-yo, a gasp at the price.
用 — pictograph of a bucket or wooden pail
用 originally depicted a bucket or container, possibly a sacrificial vessel made of wood. Over time it was borrowed to mean 'to use' or 'employ,' losing its concrete object sense. The modern meaning 'use' has been standard since early classical Chinese.