驾驶
jiàshǐ · HSK 5
drive
🚗 驾 drive/harness + 驶 sail/operate = drive a vehicle
驾 originally meant harnessing a horse to a carriage; 驶 means to operate or sail. Together they cover driving cars and piloting ships or planes — any vehicle you control.
驾 — 加 (jiā, phonetic) + 馬 horse
A semantic-phonetic compound: 馬 'horse' gives the meaning (yoking horses to a vehicle), while 加 supplies the sound. Originally meant to harness horses to a chariot, then broadened to 'drive' a vehicle and, by extension, to pilot or operate.