批准
pī zhǔn · HSK 3
to approve
✅ 批 = critique/review + 准 = approve/grant; together: review-and-grant
批 carries the sense of evaluating or marking (as a superior reviews subordinates' work), and 准 means to permit or grant. The compound names the formal act: an authority reviews a request and grants it — approval, ratification.
批 — hand radical 扌 + 比 (compare, phonetic)
批 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 signals an action done with the hand, while 比 supplies the sound (bǐ → pī). Its original sense was to strike or slap with the hand, which extended to 'push aside,' then to 'judge' or 'comment on' (as in 批评), and finally to 'a batch' of things handled together.
准 — ice radical 冫 + falcon 隹
Originally written 準, meaning a water level used to check flatness, hence 'standard' or 'level.' The simplified form 准 was historically a variant used for 'permit' or 'approve.' Modern Chinese merged both senses into 准, covering 'accurate,' 'standard,' and 'to allow.'