水分
shuǐ fèn · HSK 5
moisture content
💧 水 water + 分 portion = water content; fig. fluff/padding
Literal compound: 水 (water) + 分 (part/portion) = the water-portion of something, i.e. moisture content. Figurative sense extends to numbers or claims that are watered-down — inflated, padded, exaggerated.
水 — pictograph of flowing water
水 is a pictograph depicting a stream of flowing water, with the central line representing the main current and the side strokes showing splashing droplets or ripples. In oracle bone script it was drawn even more clearly as a wavy vertical line with branches. It retains its original meaning of 'water' and also serves as a radical, often appearing in the compressed form 氵.
分 — knife 刀 + eight 八 (split apart)
分 originally depicted a knife (刀) cutting something into two parts, shown by 八 above (which itself meant 'divide'). The core sense is 'to divide' or 'split', from which extended meanings like 'portion', 'minute', and 'part' developed. Pronounced fèn, it carries the sense of an allotted share.