收视率
shoū shì lǜ · HSK 7
ratings
📺 收视率 = receive + view + rate = viewing rate (TV ratings)
收 receive, 视 view/watch, 率 rate or ratio. Stack them and you get the rate at which a show is received and viewed: its TV ratings. The 率 ending is the same rate found in 效率 efficiency and 比率 ratio.
收 — 丩 (jiū, cord/bind) + 攵 (rap/strike, action)
Originally written 收, this character combines 丩 'twisted cord' as the phonetic with 攵 'a hand holding a stick' as the semantic, depicting the action of binding up captives or gathering things together by force. The core sense 'to gather, collect, harvest' grew naturally from this image of rounding up and tying.
率 — twisted silk threads with droplets, plus 十
率 originally pictured a net or twisted bundle of silk cords with water droplets shaking off, suggesting something being led or pulled along. From 'leading a rope' it extended to 'lead, command' (shuài) and to 'rate, ratio' (lǜ), as in a fixed proportion. The two readings share this core image of a guiding measure.