捐献
juān xiàn · HSK 7
to donate
🎁 捐 (donate) + 献 (offer up) = two giving words paired for one act of donating
Both characters already mean to give: 捐 is to relinquish or contribute, 献 is to present or dedicate. Stacking the synonyms intensifies the sense to a formal, generous donation. 献 also shows up in 奉献 (to devote).
捐 — hand 扌 + 肙 (small worm, phonetic)
捐 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 suggests an action done by hand, while 肙 supplies the sound (juān). The original sense was 'to remove' or 'cast aside' by hand, which later extended to 'relinquish' and then 'donate' or 'contribute'.
献 — 南 (south, phonetic) + 犬 (dog, semantic)
Originally written 獻, this character depicted a dog (犬) being offered, with 鬳 serving as the phonetic component indicating a ritual cauldron. It referred to presenting sacrificial offerings to ancestors or rulers. The meaning broadened over time to 'offer' or 'dedicate' in general, and the modern simplified form 献 replaces 鬳 with 南.