金庫
きんこ · kinko · JLPT N3 · noun
safe
💰🔐 金庫 = gold/money (金 kin) + storehouse (庫 ko): a money store
庫 means a storehouse and also appears in 車庫 (shako, garage: car + store) and 倉庫 (sōko, warehouse). Add 金, money, and you get the place where money is locked away. Sound hook: KINg's COffer.
金 — roof 亼 + two dots (metal nuggets) + earth 土
Originally a pictograph of metal nuggets buried in the earth beneath a covering, with the two dots representing pieces of ore. It first meant 'metal' broadly, then narrowed to 'gold' as the most precious metal, and by extension 'money'.