重力
じゅうりょく · juuryoku · JLPT N2 · noun
gravity
🍎 重 (heavy) + 力 (force) = the force that pulls heavy things down
Gravity is 重力: 重 means heavy or weighty, 力 means force. Together they name the force that makes heavy things fall. Newton's apple is a classic example.
重 — person 人 + east 東 (phonetic)
Originally depicted a person carrying a heavy bundle on their back, suggesting weight and burden. The 東-like element served as a phonetic component. Over time the character split into two readings: zhòng meaning 'heavy' and chóng meaning 'repeat/again'.
力 — pictograph of a plow or arm muscle
力 originated as a pictograph of an ancient plow, the main tool requiring physical exertion in early agriculture. Some scholars also see it as a flexed arm showing muscle. From this concrete image it broadened to mean 'strength, power, force, effort'.