立交桥
lì jiāo qiáo · HSK 7
overpass
🌉 立交桥 = 立 stand/upright + 交 cross/intersect + 桥 bridge: roads crossing on stacked levels
A flyover is where two roads cross without meeting: one stands (立) above the other at the crossing (交), joined by a bridge (桥). Pronounced lì jiāo qiáo.
立 — person standing on ground (大 over 一)
Pictograph of a person standing with arms outstretched on the ground line below. The original oracle bone form clearly shows a frontal human figure planted on the earth. The core meaning 'to stand' extended to 'establish, set up, erect.'
交 — top 亠 + 父-like crossed legs
Originally a pictograph of a person standing with legs crossed, showing the idea of crossing or intersecting. From this concrete image, the meaning extended to abstract senses like 'exchange,' 'interact,' and 'hand over.' Modern uses such as 交流 (exchange) and 交通 (traffic) all trace back to this core notion of crossing.
桥 — wood radical 木 + 乔 (qiáo, tall)
桥 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 木 radical signals 'wood,' since early bridges were made of timber, while 乔 (qiáo, meaning tall or lofty) supplies the sound and hints at the arched, raised shape of a bridge. The combined character means 'bridge.'