名称
míngchēng · HSK 2
title
🪪 名 (name) + 称 (call/designate) = name-call → official designation
名 means name; 称 means to call or weigh/designate. Together 名称 is the formal name or designation of a thing — used for organizations, products, items — not personal names (those are 名字).
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.
称 — grain 禾 + 尔 (phonetic)
称 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the grain radical 禾 on the left points to weighing grain on a balance, while 尔 hints at the sound. It originally meant 'to weigh' on a steelyard, then extended to 'to state the weight of,' and finally to general senses like 'to call,' 'to name,' or 'title.'