裁判
cáipàn · HSK 5
judge
⚖️ 裁 (cut/judge) + 判 (decide) = one who cuts decisions
裁 means to cut/tailor (also 'judge'), and 判 means to decide or sentence. Together 裁判 names the person who cuts through disputes and hands down the call — a judge in court or a referee on the field.
裁 — 戈 (halberd) + 𢦏 (phonetic, to cut)
裁 originally depicted cutting cloth with a blade, combining 衣 (clothing, embedded in the character) with 𢦏 as the phonetic component suggesting cutting. The core meaning 'to cut cloth' extended to tailoring, then broadly to 'judge, decide, reduce' — as in deciding by cutting away. Modern uses include 裁判 (judge) and 裁缝 (tailor).
判 — half 半 (phonetic) + knife 刂 (semantic)
判 combines 半 'half' with 刂 'knife', literally suggesting cutting something in two. The knife radical gives the meaning of dividing or judging, while 半 provides the sound. From 'splitting apart' it extended to 'discriminate, judge, decide'.