按时
àn shí · HSK 4
on time
⏰ 按 = press + 时 = time → press to the time = on time
按 means 'press/according to' and 时 means 'time/hour'. Together: acting according to the clock, i.e. on schedule. Think of 按 as the verb 'go by' and 时 as 'the appointed hour'.
按 — hand radical 扌 + 安 (peace)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning, indicating an action done with the hand, while 安 (ān, peace) supplies the sound. The original sense was to press down with the hand, which extended to meanings like 'to push,' 'to restrain,' and figuratively 'according to.'
时 — sun 日 + temple/measure 寺
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 日 (sun) gives the meaning of time or season, while 寺 (shí) supplies the sound. Early forms used 之 as the phonetic before 寺 replaced it. The core sense 'season, time, hour' has stayed stable since ancient Chinese.