认错
rèn cuò · HSK 7
to admit an error
🙇 认错 = 认 recognize + 错 wrong = recognize you were wrong, i.e. admit a mistake
认 means to recognize or acknowledge; 错 means wrong or error. Put together, 认错 is to acknowledge the wrong thing you did, i.e. to admit a mistake and own up to it.
认 — speech radical 讠 + 忍 rěn (phonetic)
认 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the speech radical 讠 (simplified from 言) signals meaning related to words or speaking, while 忍 rěn provides the sound. The traditional form 認 carried senses of 'acknowledge' or 'recognize through speech,' which extended to today's meanings of recognizing, identifying, and admitting.
错 — metal radical 钅 + 昔 (xī, former times)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 钅(金) 'metal' gives the meaning, while 昔 supplies the sound. It originally referred to gilding or inlaying metal, then extended to 'interweave, alternate,' and from 'crossed/mixed up' came to mean 'wrong, mistaken.'