Origin

The character 曇 combines two components to show the idea of cloudiness. The top part 日 represents the sun or sky, while the bottom part 雲 means cloud. When a cloud covers or obscures the sun, the sky becomes cloudy or overcast — so the character's meaning of "cloudy weather" or "to cloud up" comes directly from picturing how clouds obscure the bright sky above.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).