违反
wéifǎn · HSK 5
violate
🚫 违 = go against + 反 = reverse; together: act against rules
违反 combines 违 (disobey, deviate) with 反 (opposite, reverse). The two characters reinforce each other: both carry the sense of going contrary to something, so together they mean to violate or breach a rule, law, or agreement.
反 — hand 又 under cliff 厂
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) turning something over against a cliff or slope (厂), depicting the action of flipping or reversing. From this came the core meaning 'to turn over,' which extended to 'opposite,' 'contrary,' and 'rebel against.' The character is purely semantic, with no phonetic component.