握手
wò shoǔ · HSK 3
to shake hands
🤝 握 = grasp + 手 = hand: grasp-hand = handshake
握 (wò) means to grasp or hold tightly; 手 (shǒu) means hand. Together they literally read as grasp-hand, the standard verb for shaking hands in greeting or agreement.
握 — hand 扌 + 屋 wū (phonetic)
握 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 carries the meaning — actions done with the hand — while 屋 supplies the sound. The original sense is to grasp or hold tightly in the fist, which still matches its modern meaning.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.