债务
zhàiwù · HSK 7
debt
💳 债 debt + 务 duty = the duty to repay what you owe
债 (zhài, debt) pairs the person radical with 责 zé (responsibility), so a debt is a personal responsibility owed. 务 (wù) means duty or affair. Together: the binding obligation of money owed.
债 — person 亻 + responsibility 责
债 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The person radical 亻 indicates the human/social nature of the word, while 责 (zé, 'duty, demand') provides both meaning and an approximate sound. Originally tied to obligations one owes others, it came to specifically mean 'debt'.