cicada
蝉 refers to the cicada, a loud summer insect. The meaning is specific and does not branch into abstract extensions.
蝉 combines 虫 (insect) with 单, which likely contributes the sound. The character is a phono-semantic compound for the cicada.
The insect radical 虫 on the left pairs with the right side 单, which looks like a simple net on a pole. Imagine catching a loud cicada in a net: 虫 + 单 = cicada.
For セン, picture a cicada sending its shrill call across the trees: send -> セン, and the insect sends its sound.
cicada; locust
one's present existence; this mortal frame; this world; this life; temporal things
large brown cicada (Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata); aburazemi
robust cicada (Oncotympana maculaticollis); mingming cicada
outburst of cicadas singing; chorus of cicadas
Kaempfer cicada (Platypleura kaempferi)
first sound of cicadas of the year
voiceless cicada (female); Asian cicada
summer cicadas
cicada singing at dusk
Euterpnosia chibensis (species of cicada)
slipper lobster of genus Scyllarus (esp. species Scyllarus cultrifer)
cicadas which sing in late autumn
spring cicada (Terpnosia vacua)
cicada abundant in late spring
Meimuna opalifera (species of cicada)
Cryptotympana facialis (species of cicada)
cicadas that sing when autumn comes
cicadas that sing when autumn comes
laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)