beard, mustache
髭 centers on facial hair: a beard or mustache. The two meanings are closely related as different types of hair growing on the face.
髭 combines 髟 (hair) with 此, which likely contributes the sound. The character specifically denotes facial hair, distinguishing it from other hair-related characters.
The top 髟 means hair, and the bottom 此 looks like a face with a mustache and beard. Picture a face with hair growing around the mouth and chin.
For シ, imagine a man with a beard saying 'she' loves his facial hair: she -> シ, and the beard makes him memorable.
moustache; mustache; beard; whiskers; sideburns; facial hair
beard (esp. on the chin); goatee
bearded face; unshaven face; hairy face
small mustache; short mustache
grey moustache; gray mustache
false moustache
to flatter a higher-up; to brush the dirt from a beard
handlebar mustache
drooping moustache
Shinano whiskered bat (Myotis ikonnikovi hosonoi); Hosono's myotis
finely trimmed moustache
mustached monkey (Cercopithecus cephus); moustached guenon
long and abundant moustache
drooping moustache; goatee
goatee
to flatter a higher-up; to suck up to; to curry favour; to brush the dirt from a beard
collector urchin (Tripneustes gratilla)
Parnassia foliosa (species of flowering herb)
dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus)
bristly beard; bristly mustache