(insect) wings, fly, merely
翅 centers on insect wings and the act of flying. The rare sense 'merely' is an obscure extension, but the core idea is a wing or wing-like appendage used for flight.
翅 combines 支 (branch, support) and 羽 (feathers, wings), suggesting a wing supported by a branch-like structure. The exact historical development is uncertain, but the component combination likely expresses the idea of a wing.
支 looks like a branch supporting 羽, the feathers. Picture an insect's wing as a delicate feathery structure held out by a tiny branch-like frame.
For シ, imagine a tiny insect wing that makes a soft 'shee' sound as it flutters: shee -> シ, and the wing beats gently.
wing (of an insect)
fore-wing (of insect)
Hemiptera
Diptera
dipterans
homopterans (true bugs of suborder Homoptera)
coffee bee hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas); pellucid hawk moth; coffee clearwing
hindwing
shark fin
strepsipteran
Anopheles sinensis (species of mosquito)
Lepidopterological Society of Japan; LSJ
pterygote (winged insect)
pterygotes (winged insects)
pterygotes (winged insects)
Blattella nipponica (species of cockroach)
apterygote (wingless insect)
apterygotes (wingless insects)
apterygotes (wingless insects)
heteropterans (true bugs of suborder Heteroptera)