体

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 体 is a noun read からだ, meaning the body of a person or animal or one's physical condition.
• Basic usage: It can describe the body feeling heavy after waking or warming a chilled body with warm water.
  • 朝起きると体が少し重かった。 says that the speaker's body felt a little heavy upon waking; 冷えた体を温かい湯で温めた。 says that the chilled body was warmed with warm water.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 体が重い
  • Beyond literal weight, this can describe feeling physically sluggish or tired.
• 湯で体を温める
  • で marks warm water as what was used to warm the body.
• 体 and 身体
  • Both mean body, while 体 is common in everyday use and 身体 makes the physical-body sense relatively explicit.