依赖
yīlài · HSK 6
rely/depend on
🧥 依 = person + clothing — everyone relies on clothes to get by
lài sounds like lie — you can only rely on people who wont lie. 依 literally puts a person radical next to garments, spelling out dependence in its strokes.
依 — person radical 亻 + clothing 衣
A semantic-phonetic compound: 亻(person) gives the meaning of relying on someone, while 衣 (yī, clothing) supplies the sound. The original sense pictured a person leaning on or wrapped in clothing, extended to the modern meanings of 'rely on,' 'depend on,' and 'according to.'
赖 — 束 bundle + 负 carry/owe (originally 剌)
Originally a phono-semantic compound suggesting profit or gain from a bundle of goods, with 束 hinting at sound and the right side conveying meaning. Over time it shifted to mean 'rely on' and 'depend on,' then extended to 'deny' or 'repudiate' (as in shirking a debt one relies on others to forget).