目标
mùbiāo · HSK 3
target
🎯 目 (eye) + 标 (mark) = the mark your eye is fixed on
目 means eye; 标 means mark or target. Together: the mark the eye tracks — a goal or objective. Compare 标 in 标签 (label) and 商标 (trademark), all sharing the sense of a designated mark.
标 — tree 木 + 票 (ticket/phonetic)
Originally written 標, this is a semantic-phonetic compound: 木 (tree) gives the meaning and 票 supplies the sound. It first referred to the tip or top of a tree, then extended to any marker, sign, or label placed at a prominent point. The simplified form 标 keeps the same structure with a reduced phonetic.