权威
quánwēi · HSK 7
authoritativeness
👑 权 power/right + 威 might = combined clout that makes someone an authority
权 means power or right; 威 means might or prestige. Stack the two and you get authoritativeness, the weight an expert or ruler carries. Sound: quánwēi, the quán matching quán in 权利 rights.
权 — wood 木 + 雚 (heron, phonetic)
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 木 (tree/wood) gives the meaning, while 雚 supplies the sound 'quan'. The early sense referred to a specific tree, then shifted to mean a weight used on a steelyard balance. From 'weight' it extended metaphorically to 'authority' and 'power', the dominant modern meaning.