选举
xuǎnjǔ · HSK 6
election
🗳️ 选 choose + 举 raise up = choose who to raise to power
An election is literally choosing who gets raised to office. 举 also appears in 举手 (raise your hand) — the same gesture used to cast a vote.
选 — 辶 walk + 巽 (xùn, phonetic)
选 combines the walking radical 辶 with 巽, which suggests the sound. The original sense relates to going through or passing by, extended to 'picking out' or 'choosing' from a group. The simplified form replaces the older 選.
举 — hands 𠆢 + give 与 (simplified from 擧)
Originally written 擧, showing hands (手) lifting something together with the phonetic 與 'together'. The simplified form 举 keeps the idea of many hands raising up. Core meaning 'to lift, raise' extended to 'to launch, propose, hold (an event)'.