美
ビ, ミ, うつく.しい, はる, よし, よしみ, り

beauty, beautiful

JLPT3 G3 S9 F462

The present form combines 大 person standing outstretched and 羊 sheep (originally, goat), but neither of these elements can supply the Old Chinese pronunciation of the character. The phonetically close term conveyed by 㒼 (described in 満) suggests that 美, like 㒼, involved the notion "cover the body completely with an animal skin that has its head still attached." The exact provenance of the meanings *beautiful* and *good* is uncertain, as is the identity of the element replaced by 大.

[Full Kanji Etymology List]