点击率
diǎn jī lǜ · HSK 7
click-through rate (CTR) (Internet)
🖱️📊 点 dot/click + 击 hit/strike + 率 rate = click-hit-rate
Each character spells it out: 点 is the click (a point or tap), 击 is the strike or hit, and 率 is a ratio or rate. Together they literally say click-strike-rate, i.e. the proportion of clicks to impressions.
点 — fire radical 灬 + 占 (zhān, phonetic)
Originally written 點, a semantic-phonetic compound: 黑 (black) gave the meaning 'small black mark or dot' while 占 supplied the sound. It first referred to ink spots, then extended to 'point, drop, a little,' and verbs like 'to mark' or 'to light (a fire),' reflected in the simplified form's 灬 (fire) component.
率 — twisted silk threads with droplets, plus 十
率 originally pictured a net or twisted bundle of silk cords with water droplets shaking off, suggesting something being led or pulled along. From 'leading a rope' it extended to 'lead, command' (shuài) and to 'rate, ratio' (lǜ), as in a fixed proportion. The two readings share this core image of a guiding measure.