瓜分
guā fēn · HSK 7
to divide up
🍉 瓜 = melon + 分 = divide: slice the melon into shares
Literal compound: 瓜 (melon) + 分 (divide/split). The metaphor of carving up a melon into pieces extends to dividing territory, spoils, or assets among parties.
瓜 — pictograph of a melon on its vine
瓜 is a pictograph showing a melon or gourd hanging from a curling vine, with the outer strokes representing the trailing tendrils and the inner shape the fruit itself. It has kept its original meaning of 'melon/gourd' since ancient times and also serves as a radical for related fruits like 瓢 (gourd ladle) and 瓣 (segment).
分 — knife 刀 + eight 八 (split apart)
分 originally depicted a knife (刀) cutting something into two parts, shown by 八 above (which itself meant 'divide'). The core sense is 'to divide' or 'split', from which extended meanings like 'portion', 'minute', and 'part' developed. Pronounced fèn, it carries the sense of an allotted share.