数据库
shù jù kù · HSK 7
database
🗄️ 数据 data + 库 storehouse = a storehouse for data = database
库 means warehouse or storehouse (same 库 as in 仓库 warehouse). 数据 means data. Glue them together and a database is literally the warehouse where data is kept.
数 — 婁 (lóu, phonetic) + 攵 (action radical)
数 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 攵 (a hand holding a stick) suggests an action, originally tallying or counting by striking marks. The left side 婁 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'to count' to 'number' and 'several'.
据 — hand radical 扌 + 豦
据 combines the hand radical 扌 with the phonetic component 豦. Originally meaning to seize or grasp with the hand, it later extended to 'rely on' or 'according to.' In modern simplified Chinese, 据 also serves as the simplified form of 據, merging the two characters' meanings.
库 — 广 (shelter) + 车 (cart/vehicle)
库 is a semantic compound combining 广 (a roof or shelter) with 车 (cart or chariot). Originally it depicted a building where chariots and weapons were stored, hence an arsenal or storehouse. The meaning broadened over time to any warehouse, treasury, or storage facility.