知性
ちせい · chisei · JLPT N1 · noun
intelligence
🧠 知 = know + 性 = nature/quality; intelligence is the quality of knowing
知 (chi, to know) appears in 知識 (knowledge). 性 (sei, nature or quality) appears in 性格 (personality). Together they name the quality of knowing.
性 — heart radical 忄 + 生 (life/birth)
性 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 supplies the meaning, pointing to inner feelings or innate qualities, while 生 ('birth, life') gives the sound and hints at what one is born with. It originally meant 'inborn nature' and later extended to 'character,' 'gender,' and 'sex.'