剥夺
bō duó · HSK 7
to deprive
✂️ peel off (剥) + snatch (夺) = stripped of everything
剥 alone means to peel or flay — like bark off a tree. 夺 means to seize by force. Together: forcibly peeling away someones rights or property.
剥 — 录 (carve) + 刂 (knife radical)
剥 is a semantic compound: 刂 (knife) on the right shows the action, while 录 on the left originally depicted carving or scraping. Together they convey peeling or stripping something off with a blade. The two readings split usage: bāo in everyday speech (peel fruit), bō in compounds (剥削 exploit).
夺 — big 大 + short-tailed bird 隹 + hand 寸
Originally written 奪, showing a hand (寸) seizing a bird (隹) from someone's grasp (大), depicting the act of snatching away. The simplified form 夺 drops the bird component but keeps the meaning of seizing, taking by force, or contending for something.