TSUMUGU · B1 (est.) · 字
腰
ㄧㄠ · yāo
noun — the waist, the small of the back
字源 FORM — what the parts do
The waist — the flesh (月) at the body's middle. 要 yāo carries the sound, and 要 was itself the original graph for the waist, a figure clutching its own hips, before 月 was added to mark the body part. The crucial midsection: 腰部、腰帶、彎腰.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
兩手叉在身子（月）中段——叉著的那一圈，就是腰。
Both hands set at the middle of the body (月) — the band they ring is the waist.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)腰— the waist常用
→腰帶、腰圍— a belt; the waistline
⇒彎腰、腰椎— to bend at the waist; the lumbar
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension