政党
せいとう · seitou · JLPT N2 · noun
party
🏛️ 政 (politics) + 党 (party/faction): a group that runs politics together, pronounced say-toe
党 — top 龸 (尚 shàng phonetic) + 儿 (legs/person)
Simplified from 黨, originally written with 黑 (black) below 尚 (esteem), suggesting a darkened or shadowy faction. The simplified form replaces 黑 with 儿 (person/legs), keeping 尚 as the phonetic. Meaning shifted from 'clique' to neutral 'party' or 'association'.