整齐
zhěngqí · HSK 3
neat
📏 整 = whole/orderly + 齐 = aligned/even; together: neatly aligned
整 carries the sense of arranging or making whole; 齐 means level or uniform. Pair them and you get the idea of things lined up evenly — rows that match in height, items that share the same edge.
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.'
齐 — pictograph of grain ears growing evenly (齊)
齐 is the simplified form of 齊, originally a pictograph showing three stalks of grain rising to the same height. From this image of even, level tops came the core meanings 'equal,' 'uniform,' and 'together.' It later extended to 'neat,' 'arranged,' and 'all at once.'