较量
jiào liàng · HSK 7
to have a contest with sb
⚔️ 较 compare + 量 measure = compare-and-measure who is stronger; cross swords
Both halves are about sizing up: 较 means to compare and 量 means to measure. Put them together and two sides measure their strength against each other, i.e. they compete or cross swords.
较 — car radical 车 + 交 (jiāo, phonetic)
较 is a phono-semantic compound: 车 'cart/vehicle' gives the meaning, while 交 supplies the sound. It originally referred to the crossbar on a chariot, then extended by comparison of parts to mean 'compare' or 'relatively', its main modern senses.
量 — top 旦 (sunrise) + bottom 里 (village/measure)
Originally a pictograph of a funnel or measuring vessel used to gauge grain. The form evolved to suggest weighing at sunrise (旦) over a measured area (里). It split into two readings: liáng 'to measure' (the action) and liàng 'quantity' (the result).