直感
ちょっかん · chokkan · JLPT N1 · noun
intuition
💡 直 = direct + 感 = feeling: a direct feeling that skips the step-by-step reasoning
直 means straight, as in 直線 (straight line), and 感 means sense or feeling. Together they give knowing something straight away, without working it out. The same 直 appears in 直接 (directly).
直 — 十 ten + 目 eye + 乚 hidden line
Originally depicted an eye (目) looking straight along a vertical line, suggesting a direct, unswerving gaze. The form combines 目 'eye' with strokes indicating straightness. From this came the meanings 'straight,' 'upright,' and by extension 'honest' or 'direct.'
感 — heart 心 + 咸 (xián, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning of feeling or emotion, while 咸 supplies the sound. Together 感 conveys being moved in the heart, hence 'to feel,' 'sense,' or 'be affected by' something.