幾多
いくた · ikuta · JLPT N1 · noun
many
🍇 幾 (how many) + 多 (many) = many-and-more: a count so big you ask how many
幾 asks how many or some, and 多 means many, so stacking them stresses a large, uncounted quantity. It works as an adverb or noun for numerous things.
多 — two 夕 (evening) stacked
多 originally depicted two pieces of meat (夕, a variant of 肉) stacked together, suggesting abundance. Over time it was reanalyzed as two 'evenings' piled up — many evenings meaning many days, hence 'many, much'. The doubling itself conveys quantity.