entries → 消
TSUMUGU · A2 (est.) · 字
character · A2 (est.)
消 =
ㄒㄧㄠ · xiāo
verb — to vanish, dissolve, eliminate

字源 FORM — what the parts do

water — something melting away
xiāo — gives the soundflesh (月) cut small (小) — to dwindle, to resemble
Txiào → xiāo — tone shifts off the donor
Like water (氵) drying off, a thing thins down to nothing — to vanish. 肖 carries the sound and adds its sense of growing small (flesh 月 pared down by 小). The same 肖 heads a tight series: 銷、宵、硝. From vanishing comes 消除 (eliminate) and 消化 (digest — food made to disappear).

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

一灘水()攤在太陽底下,看著看著就薄了、淺了,最後不見。
A puddle of water (氵) spread under the sun, thinning and shrinking as you watch — and then it's gone.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)消失、消散— to vanish, dissipate常用
消除、消滅— to eliminate; to wipe out常用
消化— to digest — food made to disappear常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension