全力
quánlì · HSK 6
all one's strength
💪🔥 全 (whole/complete) + 力 (power/strength) = all of ones strength
When you give 全力, you hold nothing back. 全 means complete or entire, 力 means force or power. Together they express going all-out, putting every ounce of effort into something.
全 — enter 入 on top + jade 玉
Originally written as 入 (enter) over 玉 (jade), depicting a complete, unflawed piece of jade kept in storage. From this image of a perfect jade came the meanings 'whole,' 'complete,' and 'entire.' The top component is sometimes written as 人.
力 — pictograph of a plow or arm muscle
力 originated as a pictograph of an ancient plow, the main tool requiring physical exertion in early agriculture. Some scholars also see it as a flexed arm showing muscle. From this concrete image it broadened to mean 'strength, power, force, effort'.