能力
nénglì · HSK 3
ability
💪 能 = can/able + 力 = strength/power → ability
能 means 'can' or 'able to'; 力 is the character for strength or force (a pictograph of a flexed arm or plow). Together 能力 literally reads as 'able-strength', i.e. one's capability or competence.
能 — 厶 (head) + 月 (body/flesh) + 匕匕 (legs)
Originally a pictograph of a bear, showing its head, body, and powerful legs. Because bears were seen as strong and capable, the character was borrowed to mean 'ability' or 'can'. A new character 熊 (with the fire radical 灬) was later created for 'bear'.
力 — pictograph of a plow or arm muscle
力 originated as a pictograph of an ancient plow, the main tool requiring physical exertion in early agriculture. Some scholars also see it as a flexed arm showing muscle. From this concrete image it broadened to mean 'strength, power, force, effort'.