迄今为止
qì jīn wéi zhǐ · HSK 7
up to now
⏳ 迄今为止 = 迄今 (up to now) + 为止 (as the stopping point)
为止 marks where a span stops, so the whole thing fences off time from the past up to the present line. Often pairs with a negative: nothing has happened 迄今为止, i.e. still not, as of now.
为 — simplified form of 為; from 爪 (claw/hand) over 象 (elephant)
The traditional form 為 originally depicted a hand leading an elephant, suggesting the act of doing or making work. Over time it generalized to mean 'to do, to act, for the sake of.' The simplified 为 preserves this 'do/for' meaning, with pronunciation shifting between wéi ('to be, to do') and wèi ('for, because of').
止 — pictograph of a foot/toe
止 originally depicted a human foot with toes, shown as a footprint on the ground. From this concrete image of a foot it came to mean 'to stop' or 'halt' — the place where a step ends. It also serves as a component in many characters relating to feet, walking, or stopping, such as 步 and 正.