官吏
guān lì · HSK 7
official
👔🏛️ 官 official + 吏 clerk = a government official, a bureaucrat
Both characters mean a state functionary: 官 is the higher-ranking official, 吏 the lower clerk. Stacked together they form the catch-all term for civil servants who staff the bureaucracy. Sounds like guan-lee.
官 — roof 宀 + mound/many 㠯
Originally a pictograph showing a building (roof 宀) over stacked mounds or seats (㠯), depicting an official residence or government office. The meaning extended from the building itself to the officials who worked there, and then broadly to 'official' or 'government.'