削除
さくじょ · sakujo · JLPT N2 · noun
deletion
🗑️ 削 (cut off) + 除 (remove) = 削除: cut away and remove = deletion
Both characters mean taking something away: 削 shaves or cuts off, and 除 clears or removes. Together they name the act of erasing text, data, or files, and also elimination in a broader sense.
削 — 肖 (phonetic) + 刂 knife radical
削 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the knife radical 刂 gives the meaning of cutting or paring, while 肖 (xiāo) supplies the sound. The original sense was to pare or shave with a blade, which extended to figurative meanings like to reduce, strip away, or cut down.
除 — left ear/mound 阝 + surplus 余
除 combines the 'mound/steps' radical 阝 (originally 阜, a hill) with 余 as the phonetic. It first meant the steps of a palace, then extended to 'remove' or 'clear away' (as one sweeps steps clean), and later to mathematical 'divide.'