网站
wǎng zhàn · HSK 2
website
🌐 网站 = 网 (net/web) + 站 (station)
网 means net or web (think fishing-net radical 罒 on top). 站 means station or stand. Together: a station on the web — a website. Same logic as 车站 (train station).
网 — net radical 冂 + 亡 (phonetic)
網 (simplified 网) originally pictured a hunting or fishing net, with crossed mesh lines inside a frame. The modern simplified form 网 keeps that net shape directly. The traditional 網 adds 糸 (silk thread) for the material and 亡 as a phonetic hint for the wǎng sound.
站 — 立 (stand) + 占 (zhàn, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 立 'to stand' gives the meaning, while 占 supplies the sound zhàn. Originally meaning 'to stand upright,' it later extended to 'a place where one stops or stands,' giving modern senses like station or stop.
wǎng zhàn · HSK 4
website
🌐 网 = net/web + 站 = station; a 'web station' is a website
网 means net or web (the character shows a net frame). 站 means station or stand, as in 火车站 (train station). Together: a station on the web — a website.
网 — net radical 冂 + 亡 (phonetic)
網 (simplified 网) originally pictured a hunting or fishing net, with crossed mesh lines inside a frame. The modern simplified form 网 keeps that net shape directly. The traditional 網 adds 糸 (silk thread) for the material and 亡 as a phonetic hint for the wǎng sound.
站 — 立 (stand) + 占 (zhàn, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 立 'to stand' gives the meaning, while 占 supplies the sound zhàn. Originally meaning 'to stand upright,' it later extended to 'a place where one stops or stands,' giving modern senses like station or stop.