山脈
さんみゃく · sanmyaku · JLPT N1 · noun
range
⛰️ 山 mountain + 脈 vein/pulse: mountains linked like veins through the land
脈 means blood vessel or pulse. A 山脈 is a long chain of peaks running across the land, like a vein carrying the earth's shape from one end to the other.
山 — pictograph of three mountain peaks
山 is one of the oldest pictographs in Chinese, originally drawn in oracle bone script as three pointed peaks rising from a baseline. The form was simplified over time into the modern three vertical strokes on a base. Its meaning has stayed remarkably stable: 'mountain' or 'hill'.