連想
れんそう · rensou · JLPT N3 · noun
association
🔗💭 連想 = link + thought: one idea chained to the next
連 (ren) means to link or connect, as in 連絡 (renraku, contact). 想 (sou) means thought, as in 感想 (kansou, impressions). Linked thoughts give you association. A 連想ゲーム is a word-association game.
想 — heart 心 + 相 (xiāng, phonetic)
想 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning, since classical Chinese located thought and feeling in the heart. The top component 相 (xiāng) supplies the sound, and over time the character settled into the senses 'to think,' 'to want,' and 'to miss.'