主导
zhǔdǎo · HSK 5
dominant
🧭 主 = master/host + 导 = guide/lead → the master guides = leading, dominant
主 carries the sense of host or principal one; 导 means to guide or direct (as in 导师 advisor, 领导 leader). Together: the principal does the guiding — hence dominant or leading role.
主 — flame/lamp on top of a stand 王
Originally a pictograph of a lamp with a flame on top of its stand, representing the lord or master of the household who tended the fire. The meaning extended from 'lamp/host' to 'master, owner, main, principal'. The character 炷 (wick) preserves the original 'lamp' sense.