適当
てきとう · tekitou · JLPT N4 · na-adj
fitness
🧩 適当 = 適 (fit, suit) + 当 (hit the mark): something that fits just right
適 means to suit, 当 means to hit or be on target, so the pair means suitable or fitting. In casual speech てきとう also flips to mean half-hearted or sloppy, as in doing just enough to get by. Context tells you which sense is meant.
当 — small ⺌ + crown 冖 + hand 彐 (simplified from 當: 尚 + 田)
Originally written 當, combining 田 'field' with 尚 as a phonetic. The early sense was 'to match' or 'face' a field of equal value, extended to 'correspond to', 'ought to', and 'serve as'. The simplified form 当 streamlines the upper 尚 component.