测量
cèliáng · HSK 4
measure
📏 测 = measure water depth + 量 = gauge amount; together: to survey
测 (cè) means to fathom or sound out, originally measuring water depth. 量 (liáng) means to weigh or gauge a quantity. Combined, 测量 covers any act of taking measurements — surveying land, gauging distance, measuring dimensions.
测 — water radical 氵 + 则 (rule/standard)
测 combines the water radical 氵, hinting at meaning, with 则 (rule, standard), which also supplies the sound. Originally it referred to gauging the depth of water, then broadened to mean measuring, surveying, or testing in general.
量 — top 旦 (sunrise) + bottom 里 (village/measure)
Originally a pictograph of a funnel or measuring vessel used to gauge grain. The form evolved to suggest weighing at sunrise (旦) over a measured area (里). It split into two readings: liáng 'to measure' (the action) and liàng 'quantity' (the result).