公园
gōngyuán · HSK 2
park
🌳 公园 = public + garden
公 means public/common and 园 means garden or enclosed grounds. Together they name a shared green space — a park belongs to everyone, not one household.
公 — eight 八 + private 厶
Originally an ideograph showing 八 (to divide) over 厶 (private/self), depicting the act of splitting away from selfish interest. The combination came to mean 'public' or 'fair,' the opposite of private. It later extended to senses like 'duke,' 'lord,' and 'grandfather.'
园 — enclosure 囗 + 元 (yuán, phonetic)
园 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The outer 囗 (enclosure) shows a walled or fenced-off area, while 元 inside gives the sound 'yuán'. It originally meant a fenced garden or orchard, and still means garden, park, or cultivated grounds today.