任务
rènwù · HSK 3
assignment
📋 任 = duty/appoint + 务 = affair/task → assigned affair
任 carries the sense of appointing or entrusting someone with a role, while 务 means business or affair. Together 任务 is the affair you've been assigned — a mission, duty, or task handed down to you.
任 — person radical 亻 + 壬 (phonetic)
任 combines the person radical 亻 with 壬, which supplies the sound. The original sense centered on a person bearing a load or burden, which extended naturally to 'carrying responsibility,' 'duty,' and 'to appoint someone to a post.' Modern uses like 任务 (task) and 责任 (responsibility) preserve this core idea.