压缩
yāsuō · HSK 7
to compress; compression
🗜️ 压 press + 缩 shrink = press-and-shrink, i.e. compress
压 (yā) means press down; 缩 (suō) means shrink or contract. Press plus shrink gives compress: reduce or pack together. Think file compression: 压缩文件 squeezes data smaller.
压 — 厂 (cliff) + 土 (earth) below
压 is the simplified form of 壓. The original character combined 厭 (phonetic, suggesting 'yā') with 土 (earth) to mean pressing or weighing down on the ground. The modern simplified form keeps 厂 (a cliff or overhang) above 土, visually evoking earth being pressed under a heavy mass.
缩 — silk radical 糹 + 宿 (lodge, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The silk radical 糹 carries the meaning, since shrinking and tightening were associated with drawing in cords or fabric. The right side 宿 (sù) supplies the sound. The original sense of binding cloth tight extended to the modern meaning 'to shrink' or 'contract.'