取代
qǔdài · HSK 7
replace
🔄 取 take + 代 replace = take over and stand in for; one thing supersedes another
取 (qǔ) means take/fetch and 代 (dài) means to act on behalf of or a generation. Together: take someone's place — to replace or substitute for. 代 also shows up in 代替 and 现代, always carrying the on-behalf-of sense.
取 — ear 耳 + hand 又
取 originally depicted a hand (又) grasping an ear (耳), referencing the ancient practice of soldiers cutting off enemies' left ears as proof of kills to claim rewards. The meaning broadened from 'seize/take by force' to the general sense of 'take, get, obtain' used today.
代 — person radical 亻 + 弋 (stake/dart, phonetic)
代 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 亻 (person) gives the meaning and 弋 supplies the sound. The original sense was one person taking the place of another, which broadened to 'substitute,' 'replace,' and then 'generation' or 'era' — successive groups of people replacing the previous.