階段
かいだん · kaidan · JLPT N5 · noun
stairs
🪜 階段 = storey (階) + step (段): steps between floors
階 means a floor or level of a building, and 段 means a step or grade. Stacked steps that take you from one floor to the next are stairs. Sound hook: kai-dan, as in climb up, then come DOWN.
段 — left component 𠂉 + right component 殳 (weapon/strike)
段 originally depicted striking or hammering a piece of stone or metal with a tool, shown by the 殳 'strike' element on the right. From this 'hammering/forging' sense it extended to mean a section or segment cut off, and today it commonly means a paragraph, stage, or piece.