对外
duì wài · HSK 6
pertaining to external or foreign
🌍 对 = toward + 外 = outside; toward the outside world
对 means toward or facing; 外 means outside or external. Together: facing outward, i.e. dealing with external or foreign parties. Common in官方 contexts like 对外贸易 (foreign trade) and 对外政策 (foreign policy).
对 — 又 (hand) + 寸 (measure/rule)
Originally depicted a hand (又) holding or responding to something, with 寸 added as a phonetic-semantic element suggesting measured action. The traditional form 對 showed a hand presenting an object in reply, giving the core sense of 'to answer' or 'face toward.' Modern meanings like 'correct' and 'pair' grew from this idea of matching response.
外 — evening 夕 + divination 卜
Originally a compound of 夕 (evening) and 卜 (divination). Ancient Chinese divinations were performed in the morning; doing them at evening (夕) was considered irregular or 'outside' the norm. From this sense of deviation, 外 came to mean 'outside' or 'external'.