TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字
秋
秋 ＝ 禾 ＋ 火
ㄑㄧㄡ · qiū
noun — autumn; the harvest season
字源 FORM — what the parts do
禾義grain, the standing cropthe grain on the left
When the grain (禾) ripens, the year turns to autumn — 禾穀熟也, the crop come to harvest. The old graph carries two tellings: in the oldest forms an autumn insect, a cricket, sat where the fire now stands and carried the sound — it wore down over centuries into 火; or, reading the modern shape straight, grain (禾) and fire (火) together — the crop dried and burnt-off stubble of the harvest field. Either way it lands on the season of ripening: 秋天、秋季.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
田裡禾（禾）黃了，農人點起火（火）燒茬——一陣焦香，秋天到了。
The grain (禾) goes gold; the farmer lights a fire (火) on the stubble — that scorched smell, and autumn is here.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)禾穀熟、秋收— grain ripe; the harvest
→秋天、秋季— autumn常用
⇒秋思、秋意— the feeling of autumn
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
禾héthe lookalike and left half — grain alone; 秋 adds on the right for the ripening season愁＝ 心 ＋ chóu秋 over the heart 心 — autumn's weight, sorrow