缴纳
jiǎo nà · HSK 7
to pay (taxes etc)
🧾💰 缴 hand over + 纳 take in = money handed over and taken in, i.e. pay dues/taxes
Both halves mean handing money to an authority: 缴 (jiǎo) is to surrender or hand over, 纳 (nà) is to bring in or pay in. Stacked together they mean settling an obligatory payment like taxes or fees, never a casual purchase.
缴 — silk radical 纟 + 敫 (jiǎo, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The silk radical 纟 originally referred to threads or cords, hinting at binding or tying up. The right side 敫 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning shifted from 'entangle/wind around' to 'hand over' or 'pay' (as in 缴费, to pay a fee).