忠告
ちゅうこく · chuukoku · JLPT N1 · noun
warning
🚨 忠 (loyal, sincere) + 告 (tell) = a sincere telling: advice or warning
忠 means loyal or sincere, and 告 means to tell. A friend who tells you a hard truth out of loyalty gives 忠告, which can be advice or a warning.
告 — ox 牛 (top) + mouth 口
Originally a pictograph showing an ox with something on its head, possibly a yoke or sacrificial marker, combined with 口 (mouth) to suggest announcing or reporting. The character came to mean 'to tell' or 'to announce,' as in making a formal declaration. Today it commonly appears in words like 告诉 (to tell) and 报告 (report).