占据
zhànjù · HSK 6
occupy
🚩 占 seize + 据 hold ground = occupy and keep
占 means to seize or claim a spot. 据 means to hold position or have a basis. Together they describe taking a space and refusing to leave it.
占 — divination 卜 + mouth 口
Originally a pictograph showing a divination crack 卜 above a mouth 口, depicting someone speaking the result of an oracle reading. From this 'declare by divination' sense it broadened to 'occupy, take possession of' (now read zhàn) and 'divine, foretell' (read zhān).
据 — hand radical 扌 + 豦
据 combines the hand radical 扌 with the phonetic component 豦. Originally meaning to seize or grasp with the hand, it later extended to 'rely on' or 'according to.' In modern simplified Chinese, 据 also serves as the simplified form of 據, merging the two characters' meanings.