车站
chēzhàn · HSK 1
station
🚉 车 (vehicle) + 站 (stand/stop) = vehicle stop = station
车 means vehicle or car, and 站 means to stand or a stop/post. Together they name the place where vehicles stop — a station. The same 站 appears in 网站 (web-stand = website).
车 — pictograph of a chariot/cart
车 is a pictograph originally drawn as a top-down view of a chariot, showing the axle, wheels, and carriage box. The ancient form 車 clearly depicted two wheels connected by an axle. It still means vehicle, cart, or car today.
站 — 立 (stand) + 占 (zhàn, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 立 'to stand' gives the meaning, while 占 supplies the sound zhàn. Originally meaning 'to stand upright,' it later extended to 'a place where one stops or stands,' giving modern senses like station or stop.