队长
duìzhǎng · HSK 2
captain
👮 队 = team/squad + 长 = leader; literally 'team leader'
队 means team or squad (as in 团队), and 长 means chief or elder. Together they form 'team leader' — the captain of a sports team, a squad chieftain, or a police chief in charge of a unit.
队 — 阝(mound) + 㒸 (phonetic, suì)
Originally written 隊, depicting people falling from a mound (阝). The early sense was 'to fall down,' later borrowed for 'a group' or 'team' descending or marching together. The simplified form 队 keeps the mound radical 阝 but replaces the right side with 人 (person), suggesting people gathered in a line.
长 — pictograph of long-haired person with cane
Originally a pictograph showing a person with long, flowing hair leaning on a cane, representing an elder. The meaning extended from 'long hair' to 'long' in general, and also to 'elder' or 'to grow' (read zhǎng). The modern form 长 is a simplification of the traditional 長.