跨越
kuàyuè · HSK 7
leap over
🦘 跨 = stride/step-over + 越 = exceed/cross — both halves mean going across, so together: leap over
跨 carries the foot radical 足 and means to step across or straddle; 越 means to exceed or pass over. Stacking two crossing-verbs intensifies the sense: clearing or vaulting past an obstacle.
跨 — foot 足 + 夸 (kuā, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The foot radical 足 gives the meaning, since 跨 originally described stepping over or straddling something with the legs. The right side 夸 supplies the sound. The meaning later extended to 'span' or 'across,' as in crossing regions or eras.
越 — 走 (run) + 戉 (axe, phonetic)
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 走 ('to run, go') gives the meaning of crossing or passing over, while 戉 (an ancient axe) supplies the sound. From 'to stride across' it extended to 'exceed, surpass,' and was later borrowed as the name of the ancient Yue state and people in southern China.