茶の湯
ちゃのゆ · chanoyu · JLPT N1 · noun
tea ceremony
🍵 茶 (tea) + の (of) + 湯 (hot water) = the ritual of brewing tea with hot water
Chanoyu literally means 'tea's hot water.' The 湯 is the hot water poured over powdered green tea, and the ceremony centres on preparing it carefully.
茶 — grass radical 艹 + 余 (phonetic)
茶 combines the grass radical 艹, indicating a plant, with 余 serving as the phonetic component. It originally derived from the older character 荼, which referred broadly to bitter herbs; a stroke was dropped during the Tang dynasty to distinguish the tea plant specifically. Today it means tea.