贵族
guìzú · HSK 7
nobleman
👑 贵 expensive/honored + 族 clan = the honored clan, i.e. nobility
贵 means costly or held in high esteem; 族 is a clan or tribe (same 族 as in 家族 family-clan). Put them together and you get the high-esteem clan: the aristocracy, a nobleman or baron.
贵 — shell 贝 (money) + 中 (middle/basket)
贵 originally depicted hands holding a basket of cowrie shells (贝), which served as ancient Chinese currency. The shell radical 贝 signals connection to wealth and value. Over time it came to mean 'expensive,' 'valuable,' and by extension 'noble' or 'honored.'
族 — banner 㫃 + arrow 矢
族 originally depicted arrows 矢 gathered under a banner 㫃, representing a military unit or clan rallying under one flag. From this image of people united under a common standard, the meaning extended to family, tribe, and ethnic group.