省略
shěng lüè · HSK 7
to leave out
✂️ 省 (save/spare) + 略 (brief, leave out) = cut it short, leave it out
Both characters carry the sense of trimming: 省 means to save or economize, 略 means brief or sketchy. Together 省略 is to economize by leaving something out — an omission.
省 — 少 (shǎo) on top + 目 (eye) below
Originally a compound of 少 'small/few' over 目 'eye', suggesting narrowed eyes peering closely — hence the reading xǐng meaning 'to examine, inspect, reflect'. The sense of 'reduce/save' and the administrative meaning 'province' (as in 省份) developed later from the idea of cutting down or overseeing a region.
略 — field 田 + each 各 (phonetic)
略 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 田 'field' gives the meaning and 各 supplies the sound. It originally referred to surveying or marking out fields and territory, then extended to 'plan, strategy' and 'seize/conquer.' From there it broadened to the modern senses 'outline, brief, omit, slightly.'