看中
kàn zhòng · HSK 7
to have a preference for
👀🎯 看 look + 中 hit-the-mark = to look something over and settle on it
看 means look or watch; 中 here is the zhòng tone meaning to hit the target, the same sense as in 中奖 (win a prize). Together: you look at the options and your gaze lands on the one you fancy.
看 — hand 手 over eye 目
看 is an associative compound showing a hand (手, simplified to 龹) shading an eye (目), depicting someone shielding their eyes to look into the distance. From this concrete gesture it broadened to mean 'to look,' 'to watch,' and later 'to read' or 'to consider.'
中 — vertical stroke 丨 through enclosure 口
Pictograph of a banner or pole piercing the center of a target or territory, depicting the idea of 'middle' or 'center'. The horizontal frame represents boundaries, and the vertical line marks the central axis. The meaning extended from spatial center to 'middle, central, China' (中国, the Middle Kingdom).