交费
jiāofèi · HSK 3
Pay a fee
💰 交费 = hand over (交) + fee (费)
交 means to hand over or submit; 费 means fee or expense. Together they mean to pay a fee — literally 'submit the fee'. Compare 交税 (pay tax) and 学费 (tuition fee).
交 — top 亠 + 父-like crossed legs
Originally a pictograph of a person standing with legs crossed, showing the idea of crossing or intersecting. From this concrete image, the meaning extended to abstract senses like 'exchange,' 'interact,' and 'hand over.' Modern uses such as 交流 (exchange) and 交通 (traffic) all trace back to this core notion of crossing.
费 — 弓 bow + 弗 (phonetic 'fú/fèi')
费 is a phono-semantic compound. The bottom 贝 (cowrie shell, ancient money) gives the meaning 'cost/expense,' while 弗 on top supplies the sound. Originally it referred to spending money or wasting resources, and today it means 'fee,' 'expense,' or 'to consume.'