智商
zhì shāng · HSK 7
IQ (intelligence quotient)
🧠 智 wisdom + 商 quotient = intelligence quotient; 商 is the math 'quotient' of a division
智 means wisdom or intellect; 商 means quotient, the same 商 used for the answer to a division problem. Put them together and you get the quotient of someone's intelligence: IQ.
商 — 亠 lid + 丷 + 冏 window/enclosure
In oracle bone script 商 depicted a raised platform or altar-like structure, and it served as the name of the Shang dynasty and its capital region. The modern components are a late simplification of that pictograph and carry no separate meaning. The sense 'trade, merchant' arose later, traditionally linked to Shang people who travelled to buy and sell after their dynasty fell.