煉瓦
れんが · renga · JLPT N2 · noun
brick
🧱 煉 (temper by fire) + 瓦 (roof tile) = a fire-hardened tile, i.e. brick
The れん in れんが echoes 煉, meaning to temper or smelt in fire. 瓦 is the roof tile, so a brick is a tile hardened by firing.
瓦 — pictograph of interlocking roof tiles
瓦 is a pictograph showing two curved clay tiles fitted together, as on a traditional roof. The original meaning was 'baked clay tile,' and it later extended to pottery and earthenware in general. It also serves as a radical in characters related to ceramics, such as 瓶 and 瓷.