身長
しんちょう · shinchou · JLPT N3 · noun
height
📏 身長 = body + long: how long your body is
身 (shin) means body and 長 (chou) means long. Japanese measures a person's height as body-length. The same 長 appears in 長い (nagai, long) and 身 in 身体 (shintai, body).
身 — pictograph of a pregnant body
身 is a pictograph originally depicting a person with a swollen belly, representing a pregnant woman in profile. Over time the meaning broadened from 'pregnancy' or 'torso' to refer to the body in general, and by extension oneself or one's person.