注册
zhùcè · HSK 5
register
📝 注 = pour/inject + 册 = booklet; pour your name into the booklet
注 means to pour or inject (water radical 氵 + 主 host), and 册 depicts bamboo slips bound together — an old booklet. Together: inject your details into the register.
注 — water 氵 + master 主 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 氵 (water) gives the meaning of pouring or flowing, while 主 supplies the sound. The original sense was 'to pour water in,' which extended to 'concentrate, focus' (as in pouring attention) and 'to annotate' (pouring explanation into a text).
册 — two bamboo strips 竹 bound by a cord
册 is a pictograph of ancient bamboo or wooden writing slips threaded together with a cord, the earliest form of a book in China. The original meaning was a bound bundle of slips, which broadened to mean a volume, register, or booklet. Modern uses like 书册 (book) and 注册 (to register) preserve this sense.