室

Earliest attested in oracle bone script (甲骨文).

Components:

宀 (roof radical) - semantic, indicating a house or shelter.

至 (to arrive) - phonetic (and possibly semantic), suggesting arrival at a settled place.

Interpretations:

Shuowen Jiezi (説文解字 shuōwén jiězì): “从宀从至。至,所止也。” — “From 宀 and 至; 至 means where one stops,” interpreting 室 as a house where one comes to dwell.

Duan Yucai’s commentary: 室 is phono-semantic, 宀 as semantic + 至 as phonetic.

Reconstructed Old Chinese readings (Zhengzhang Shangfang, Baxter–Sagart) support the phonetic relationship between 室 and 至.

教室 (교실) — classroom

會議室 (회의실) — meeting room, conference room

溫室 (온실) — greenhouse

寢室 (침실) — bedroom

室內 (실내) — indoors, interior

室家 (실가) — wife, family

In classical usage, 室 referred to the inner quarters of a household, especially the women’s chambers, hence by extension “wife.”

Distinction: 堂 (outer hall, main building) vs. 室 (inner room, chamber).

The metaphorical use of 室 for “wife” is preserved in compounds such as 室家.