验证
yànzhèng · HSK 7
test and verify
✅🔍 验证 = examine (验) + prove (证) = test and verify
验 carries the sense of inspecting or testing; 证 means to prove or certify. Together they mean to run a check and confirm it holds, like an auth code that gets 验证 before access.
验 — horse radical 马 + 佥 (all/together)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The horse radical 马 originally referred to inspecting horses, while 佥 (qiān, 'all together') supplied the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'examine a horse' to 'test, examine, verify' in general.
证 — speech radical 讠 + 正 (correct/upright)
证 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The speech radical 讠 (言) signals it relates to words or testimony, while 正 (zhèng, 'upright/correct') gives the sound and hints at 'verifying truth.' Originally written 證, it meant to testify or prove; today it means evidence, certificate, or to prove.