过年
guònián · HSK 2
celebrate/spend New Year
🎆 过 = pass/cross + 年 = year; literally 'pass the year'
过 means to pass or cross over, and 年 means year. Together 过年 is 'passing the year' — the act of seeing the old year out and the new one in, i.e. celebrating Chinese New Year.
过 — 辶 walk radical + 呙 (phonetic)
过 combines the walking radical 辶, suggesting motion or passage, with 呙 serving as the phonetic component. Originally it depicted crossing or passing by on foot, which extended to meanings like 'to pass,' 'to cross over,' and later 'past' or 'excessive.' The simplified form replaces the traditional 過.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.