实力
shílì · HSK 3
strength
💪 实 (real/solid) + 力 (strength) = real strength, actual capability
实 means real or solid; 力 is the classic strength radical depicting a flexed arm or plow. Together: strength that is real, i.e. actual power or proven ability — not just potential or boasted skill.
力 — pictograph of a plow or arm muscle
力 originated as a pictograph of an ancient plow, the main tool requiring physical exertion in early agriculture. Some scholars also see it as a flexed arm showing muscle. From this concrete image it broadened to mean 'strength, power, force, effort'.