握手
あくしゅ · akushu · JLPT N3 · noun
handshake
🤝 握手 = grip (握 aku) + hand (手 shu): gripping hands
握 means to grasp or hold tight, as in 握る (nigiru, to grip). 手 is hand. Put together, a grip of hands is a handshake. Chinese uses the same two characters: 握手 wòshǒu.
握 — hand 扌 + 屋 wū (phonetic)
握 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 carries the meaning — actions done with the hand — while 屋 supplies the sound. The original sense is to grasp or hold tightly in the fist, which still matches its modern meaning.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.