消除
xiāochú · HSK 5
removal
🧹 消 (vanish) + 除 (remove) = wipe out, eliminate
消 means to dissolve or vanish (water radical + 肖); 除 means to remove or get rid of. Together: to eliminate, eradicate, or do away with something completely — pests, doubts, fatigue.
消 — water 氵 + 肖 (phonetic)
消 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the water radical 氵 indicates the meaning, while 肖 (xiào) supplies the sound. It originally described water dwindling or melting away, and from there extended to the modern senses of vanishing, dissolving, and dispelling.
除 — left ear/mound 阝 + surplus 余
除 combines the 'mound/steps' radical 阝 (originally 阜, a hill) with 余 as the phonetic. It first meant the steps of a palace, then extended to 'remove' or 'clear away' (as one sweeps steps clean), and later to mathematical 'divide.'