图纸
tú zhǐ · HSK 7
design plans
📐📄 图 diagram + 纸 paper = the paper your design plans live on: a blueprint
图 (tú) is a diagram, map, or drawing; 纸 (zhǐ) is paper. Glue them and you get drawing-paper: a blueprint or set of design plans. Same 纸 as in 报纸 (newspaper) and 纸巾 (tissue).
图 — enclosure 囗 + 冬 (simplified from 啚)
Originally written 圖, showing an enclosure 囗 around 啚, a depiction of a granary or rural settlement on a map. The whole character meant a map or chart of demarcated territory. Meaning later broadened to picture, diagram, or to plan/scheme.
纸 — silk radical 糹 + clan 氏
纸 means 'paper.' The silk radical 糹 reflects the early use of silk-like fibers in writing materials before true paper existed. 氏 ('clan') serves as the phonetic component, hinting at the sound zhǐ. Paper was traditionally credited to Cai Lun in the Han dynasty.