Several parts combine into one character.

想 is a phonetic-semantic compound: 相 (xiāng, "mutual / facing each other" — itself a compound of 木 tree + 目 eye, depicting an eye examining a tree) + 心 (heart). The composite reads as "the heart facing an object, examining it inwardly" = to think, to imagine, to call something to mind. The etymological richness comes from 相: 想 inherits the visual logic of "an eye contemplating its target" but moves the contemplation from the physical eye to the heart. To imagine, in this view, is to face something with the inner eye.

Korean reading "sang." 想像 (sangsang, imagination — fundamental Korean abstract noun), 豫想 (yesang, expectation / prediction), 思想 (sasang, thought / ideology — politically charged: 사상가 sasangga "thinker," 사상범 sasangbeom "ideological criminal" — a contested historical category in Korean political vocabulary), 空想 (gongsang, fantasy / daydream), 理想 (isang, ideal — 이상적 isangjeok "ideal"), 感想 (gamsang, impression / response — used after experiencing a film, book, or event).

Mandarin xiǎng, 3rd tone. One of the highest-frequency verbs in spoken Mandarin: 想 (xiǎng, to think / want / miss) functions both as a content verb and a modal: 我想吃 (wǒ xiǎng chī, "I want to eat"), 我想他 (wǒ xiǎng tā, "I miss him"), 想想看 (xiǎng xiǎng kàn, "let me think"). 想象 (xiǎngxiàng, to imagine), 思想 (sīxiǎng, thought), 想念 (xiǎngniàn, "to think-remember" = to miss / long for). The same xiǎng covers cognition, desire, and longing — Mandarin's emotional life runs through this single character.

Japanese on-reading ソウ (sō) — 想像 (sōzō, imagination), 予想 (yosō, expectation), 思想 (shisō, thought / ideology), 感想 (kansō, impression — "after seeing a movie, please write your kansō"), 理想 (risō, ideal). Alternative on-reading ソ (so) appears in 愛想 (aiso, "loving heart" = friendliness / sociability — 愛想がいい aiso ga ii means "friendly / sociable"). Kun-reading おもう (omou, "to think") — but Japanese typically writes this as 思う (also omou), reserving 想う for poetic and emotionally weighted contexts. The choice between 思う and 想う is a subtle stylistic decision in Japanese writing.

Memory aid: 相 (eye contemplating a tree) plus 心 (heart) — when the heart's eye examines its object, that is imagination.