功夫
gōngfū · HSK 3
skill
🥋 功 (work/merit) + 夫 (man) = skilled effort, the work of a master
功 means achievement or effort; 夫 means a grown man or workman. Together: the disciplined work that turns a person into a master. English borrowed it for martial arts, but it covers any hard-won skill.
功 — work 工 (phonetic) + strength 力 (semantic)
功 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The right side 力 (strength, a pictograph of a plow or flexed arm) gives the meaning, while 工 (work, originally a carpenter's square) supplies the sound. Together they convey effort applied to work — hence 'achievement, merit, accomplishment.'