双赢
shuāng yíng · HSK 7
a win-win situation
🤝 双 = double/pair + 赢 = win, so double-win = both sides win (win-win)
双 is the same double as in 双胞胎 (twins) or 双人 (two-person); 赢 means to win or profit. Stack them and you get a deal where both parties come out ahead.
双 — two 又 (right hands) side by side
Originally written 雙 with two 隹 (short-tailed birds) over 又 (hand), depicting a pair of birds held in one hand, hence 'pair' or 'two'. The modern simplified form 双 keeps just two 又 hands side by side as a visual shorthand for 'a pair'. Meaning broadened to 'double' or 'even-numbered'.
赢 — 亡 + 口 + 月 + 貝 + 凡
赢 is a complex compound traditionally analyzed as five parts representing qualities needed to win: 亡 (caution about loss), 口 (communication), 月 (time/patience), 貝 (money/resources), and 凡 (an ordinary, balanced mind). Originally meaning to gain or have a surplus, it came to mean 'to win' or 'profit'.