entries → 早
TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 · 字
早 character · TOCFL 1
早 ＝ 日 ＋ 十
ㄗㄠˇ · zǎo
adj/noun — early; morning

字源 FORM — what the parts do

日義the sun
十形the worn stand under the sun — 甲 or a clipped 棗, per the telling
The sun (日) up over a cross-stroke — early. The old graph carries two tellings: the sun above 甲, first of the stems — the day at its first hour; or the sun in a jujube tree (棗), the tree clipped to a bare cross and lending its sound zǎo.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

太陽（日）剛冒過樹梢，街上還沒有人。
The sun (日) just clears the treetops — the street still empty.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)早晨— early morning常用
→早安、早餐— the morning greeting, the morning meal
⇒提早、早到— early — ahead of time
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
旱hànthe lookalike — 干 under 旱's sun, one stroke past 早's 十晚＝ 日 ＋ 免wǎnthe other end of the day