隔离
gélí · HSK 7
to separate; to isolate
🚧 隔 (separate) + 离 (leave/apart) = keep apart, isolate
隔 means partition or separate (think of a divider 阝on the left); 离 means to leave or be apart. Together: forcibly held apart — quarantine, segregate, isolate.
隔 — 阜 (mound 阝) + 鬲 (cauldron, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The left element 阝 (mound/hill) suggests a barrier or separation, while 鬲 (an ancient three-legged cauldron) supplies the sound. The original sense of being blocked off by terrain extended to today's meanings of 'separate,' 'partition,' or 'at an interval.'
离 — top 亠 + 凶 + 禸 (animal track)
Originally depicted a long-tailed bird caught in a net, from which the early sense 'oriole' arose. The character was later borrowed phonetically for the unrelated verb meaning 'to leave' or 'be apart from,' which became its dominant modern usage. The original bird sense faded out of everyday use.