报名
bàomíng · HSK 2
enroll
📝 报 = report/announce + 名 = name → announce your name = sign up
报 means to report or announce; 名 means name. Together, 报名 literally is 'report your name' — the act of giving your name to officially enroll or register for something.
报 — hand 扌 (报) + 卩 seal/kneeling figure
Originally 報 depicted a hand pressing a kneeling criminal under a manacle (幸 + 卩 + 又), meaning 'to judge' or 'requite a crime.' From 'repay/requite' it broadened to 'respond, report, announce.' The simplified form 报 keeps the hand 扌 and 卩 but drops the manacle element.
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.