zuì
most
How it’s built
Phonosemantic compound. 冃 represents the meaning and 取 represents the sound. 冃 is used here since a hat is placed at the highest part of the head.
冃
meaning
hat
取
sound
take; get — The pronunciation of 最 was similar to 取 in old Chinese, but they no longer sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes.