目盛
めもり · memori · JLPT N1 · noun
scale
📏 Sounds like English memory: a ruler's marks are a memory of length
目 means eye and 盛 means to heap up or measure out. A 目盛 is the set of marks you read by eye to measure amounts.
盛 — 成 (chéng, phonetic) + 皿 (vessel)
A phono-semantic compound: 皿 (a dish or vessel) gives the meaning, while 成 supplies the sound. The original sense was grain heaped into a ritual vessel as an offering, hence 'to fill' or 'contain' (chéng). From 'full to the brim' it extended to 'abundant, flourishing, prosperous' (shèng).