上がり
あがり · agari · JLPT N1 · noun
ascent
🏔️💰 上 up + 上がる to go up: its noun form covers rise, income, finish, stop
上 means up, and the verb 上がる means to rise or be finished. Rising ties to ascent and income, finishing to completion, and the finish square in board games gives the sense of stop.
上 — horizontal line above a baseline
上 is an indicative character (指事): a short stroke placed above a longer reference line shows the concept of 'above' or 'up'. The earliest oracle-bone forms used two horizontal lines for this; the modern shape added a vertical stroke for clarity. The core meaning of 'upper, above, to ascend' has stayed stable for millennia.