理科
lǐ kē · HSK 7
the sciences (as opposed to the humanities 文科[wen2 ke1])
🔬 理 (logic/science) + 科 (subject/field) = the science subjects
理 carries the sense of reason or principle, and 科 means an academic branch or subject. Together they name the science track, set against 文科 (wen ke), the humanities track.
理 — jade radical 玉/王 + village 里 (phonetic)
理 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the jade radical 王 (玉) on the left signals meaning, while 里 on the right gives the sound. It originally meant the natural veins or grain in a piece of jade, then extended to 'pattern,' 'order,' 'principle,' and finally the modern senses 'reason' and 'to manage.'
科 — grain 禾 + measure 斗
科 combines 禾 (grain) and 斗 (a dipper/measure), originally depicting the act of measuring or grading grain. From this, it extended to mean classification, category, and branch of study. Today it commonly appears in words for science (科学) and academic disciplines.