条件
tiáojiàn · HSK 2
precondition
📋✅ 条件 = 条 (item/clause) + 件 (matter/case) → terms of a matter
条 means a strip, item, or clause (think numbered clauses in a contract); 件 counts matters or affairs. Together they form the clauses governing a matter — the conditions, terms, or prerequisites that must hold.
条 — 攵 (tap) + 木 (tree); originally 攸 + 木
Originally written with 攸 (a flowing stream) over 木 (tree), 条 depicted slender twigs or branches of a tree. The meaning extended from 'thin branch' to any long, narrow item, then to 'strip,' 'item,' or 'article' as a measure word. The modern simplified form keeps 攵 over 木.
件 — person radical 亻 + ox 牛
件 combines the person radical 亻 with 牛 (ox). Originally it referred to dividing or counting items, with oxen being valuable units of property to count. It came to mean a measurable item or matter, and today serves as a measure word for things, documents, and affairs.