出租车
chū zū chē · HSK 2
taxi
🚕 出租车 = go out + rent + vehicle
出 means 'go out', 租 means 'rent/hire', 车 means 'vehicle' — literally a 'go-out-for-hire vehicle'. In Taiwan the same compound shifts to mean a rental car you drive yourself.
出 — foot 止 emerging from enclosure 凵
出 is a pictograph showing a foot or plant stepping out of a hollow or enclosure, depicting the act of going forth. The original sense of 'coming out' or 'emerging' has remained stable since oracle bone script. It now broadly means 'to exit, go out, or produce.'
租 — grain 禾 + 且 (phonetic)
租 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The grain radical 禾 on the left signals the meaning, since taxes and rent in ancient China were paid in harvested grain. The right side 且 supplies the sound. Originally it meant grain tax paid to the state, later broadening to 'rent' or 'lease' in general.
车 — pictograph of a chariot/cart
车 is a pictograph originally drawn as a top-down view of a chariot, showing the axle, wheels, and carriage box. The ancient form 車 clearly depicted two wheels connected by an axle. It still means vehicle, cart, or car today.
chū zū chē · HSK 2
taxi
🚕 出租车 = go out + rent + vehicle
出 (chū) means 'go out', 租 (zū) means 'rent', 车 (chē) means 'vehicle' — literally a 'go-out rental vehicle', which is exactly what a taxi is.
出 — foot 止 emerging from enclosure 凵
出 is a pictograph showing a foot or plant stepping out of a hollow or enclosure, depicting the act of going forth. The original sense of 'coming out' or 'emerging' has remained stable since oracle bone script. It now broadly means 'to exit, go out, or produce.'
租 — grain 禾 + 且 (phonetic)
租 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The grain radical 禾 on the left signals the meaning, since taxes and rent in ancient China were paid in harvested grain. The right side 且 supplies the sound. Originally it meant grain tax paid to the state, later broadening to 'rent' or 'lease' in general.
车 — pictograph of a chariot/cart
车 is a pictograph originally drawn as a top-down view of a chariot, showing the axle, wheels, and carriage box. The ancient form 車 clearly depicted two wheels connected by an axle. It still means vehicle, cart, or car today.