判决
pànjué · HSK 7
adjudge
⚖️ 判 judge + 决 decide = a court hands down its verdict
Both 判 (judge) and 决 (decide) carry the sense of cutting a matter to a final ruling, so 判决 is the formal verdict a court adjudges. Sound cue: pànjué starts like pawn-jway.
判 — half 半 (phonetic) + knife 刂 (semantic)
判 combines 半 'half' with 刂 'knife', literally suggesting cutting something in two. The knife radical gives the meaning of dividing or judging, while 半 provides the sound. From 'splitting apart' it extended to 'discriminate, judge, decide'.