entries → 乘
TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
乘 character · TOCFL 2 (est.)
乘 ＝ 大 ＋ 木
ㄔㄥˊ · chéng/shèng
verb — to ride, mount; to multiply; noun (shèng) — a war chariot

字源 FORM — what the parts do

大義a person, arms out — worn into the 禾-shaped middle of the modern glyph
木義a tree — flattened into the bottom strokes
A person (大) climbs and stands on top of a tree (木) — to mount, to get up onto. Copying wore the standing figure into the 禾-like core and splayed the tree into the base, so neither piece shows plainly now. From climbing aboard: 乘車、乘船; from one thing stacked on another, 乘法 multiply; read shèng, a chariot you mount — 千乘之國.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

人爬到樹頂，兩腳一站——乘上去了。
A figure climbs to the top of the tree (木) and plants both feet — mounted, aboard.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
chéng
(本義)登上、騎— to mount, to ride常用
→趁、利用— to seize (an opening) — 乘機、乘勢
⇒乘法、相乘— to multiply — one stacked on another常用
shèng
(本義)兵車— a war chariot — what one mounts
→史乘— records, annals
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
桀jiéthe lookalike — 桀 sets the figure astride the tree as a roost; 乘 has the person standing on top