高涨
gāo zhǎng · HSK 7
to rise
📈 高 = high + 涨 = rise/swell (water); together: rises high
高 means high; 涨 (water radical 氵+ 张 zhāng) means to swell or rise, originally of water levels. Together they mean to surge up — used for prices, tensions, emotions, or tides running high.
高 — pictograph of a tall building/tower
高 is a pictograph of a tall structure, likely a watchtower or multi-story gate, with a roof on top, an upper chamber, and a base below. From this concrete image of height it extended to the general meanings 'tall,' 'high,' and figuratively 'lofty' or 'noble.'
涨 — water 氵 + 张 (zhāng, phonetic)
涨 combines the water radical 氵 with 张 (to stretch, expand), which also gives the sound. Originally it described water swelling or rising, like a flooding river. The meaning later extended to prices or quantities going up.