整理
zhěnglǐ · HSK 3
to arrange; to tidy up
📋 整 (tidy/whole) + 理 (arrange/manage) = put in order
整 means 'whole/neat' and 理 means 'to manage/arrange' (originally 'patterns in jade'). Together they describe the act of tidying or organizing things into a proper arrangement.
整 — 束 bundle + 攵 tap/strike + 正 correct/upright
A compound character combining 敕 (to arrange, with 束 'bundle' and 攵 'strike/action') over 正 ('upright, correct'). The image is of striking a bundle into proper alignment, giving the meaning 'to put in order, arrange neatly.' From this came senses of 'whole, complete, tidy.'
理 — jade radical 玉/王 + village 里 (phonetic)
理 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the jade radical 王 (玉) on the left signals meaning, while 里 on the right gives the sound. It originally meant the natural veins or grain in a piece of jade, then extended to 'pattern,' 'order,' 'principle,' and finally the modern senses 'reason' and 'to manage.'