制止
zhìzhǐ · HSK 7
to curb; to put a stop to
🛑✋ 制 control + 止 stop = clamp something to a halt; to curb or restrain it
制 carries the sense of control or regulation, and 止 means to stop. Together they mean to forcibly check or prevent an action, like stepping in to halt a fight.
制 — knife 刂 + 未 (tree branches)
Originally depicted a knife 刂 cutting branches from a tree, showing the act of trimming or shaping wood. From this concrete sense of cutting to size came the meanings 'to make,' 'to manufacture,' and by extension 'to control' or 'regulate' — shaping things to a desired form.
止 — pictograph of a foot/toe
止 originally depicted a human foot with toes, shown as a footprint on the ground. From this concrete image of a foot it came to mean 'to stop' or 'halt' — the place where a step ends. It also serves as a component in many characters relating to feet, walking, or stopping, such as 步 and 正.