England, English, hero, outstanding, calyx
英 centers on something that stands out as excellent or prominent, like a hero or an outstanding person. The meanings 'England' and 'English' are modern phonetic loans, while 'calyx' refers to the prominent leafy part of a flower, fitting the idea of something that stands out.
英 combines 艹 (grass) and 央 (center). Historically, it referred to the prominent central part of a flower (calyx), and by extension came to mean outstanding or heroic. The use for 'England' is a phonetic loan unrelated to the original meaning.
The grass radical 艹 sits above 央 (center). Imagine the most outstanding flower in a field, with its calyx standing tall at the center. That prominent flower is the hero of the garden.
For エイ, picture an English hero saying 'A!' (like 'eh') in surprise at being called outstanding: 'A!' -> エイ.
English (language)
United Kingdom; Britain
United Kingdom; Britain; Great Britain
hero; heroine; great person
English writing; English sentence; English text
English conversation
English translation
Shueisha (publisher)
English word
spirit of the dead (esp. of those killed in war); soul of a fallen soldier
intelligent; wise; bright; brilliant; clear-sighted
English letter; alphabetic character
English-Japanese
wisdom; intelligence; sagacity
education of gifted young people; providing financial support to gifted students
genius; brilliance; unusual talent
fame; glory; reputation
quartz
alphanumeric character; letters (of the English alphabet) and numbers
great person; hero; mastermind; extraordinary person