高等学校
こうとうがっこう · koutougakkou · JLPT N2 · noun
senior high school
🏫 高等 = high-level + 学校 = school: a high-level school, i.e. senior high school
高 (kō) means high and 等 (tō) means grade or rank. Put them with 学校 (school) and you get a school for the higher grades: senior high school.
高 — pictograph of a tall building/tower
高 is a pictograph of a tall structure, likely a watchtower or multi-story gate, with a roof on top, an upper chamber, and a base below. From this concrete image of height it extended to the general meanings 'tall,' 'high,' and figuratively 'lofty' or 'noble.'
等 — bamboo radical 竹 + temple 寺
Originally referred to bamboo slips of equal length used for record-keeping, with 竹 (bamboo) as the semantic component and 寺 suggesting the phonetic. From 'equal-length slips' the meaning extended to 'rank, class,' then 'equal,' and later to 'wait' (to be of equal status in line).
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.