～番
～ばん · ～ban · JLPT N5 · noun
~st
🥇 番 = turn, number in a series; 一番 = number one, the best
番 originally means a turn or watch in a rotation, so it came to count position in an order. Attach it to a number: 一番 is first or best, 二番 is second, 三番 is third. Sound hook: ban is the rank you are banded into.
番 — 釆 (animal tracks) on top + 田 (field) below
Originally a pictograph showing animal paw prints (釆) in a field (田), depicting tracks left by beasts. The early meaning related to taking turns or sequences, as tracks come one after another. It later extended to 'foreign' or 'barbarian,' and is now used as a measure word for occurrences or to mean 'number/turn.'