条件
じょうけん · jouken · JLPT N3 · noun
conditions
📜 条件 = clause (条) + matter (件): the itemised matters of a deal
条 is the counter for articles and clauses in a contract; 件 means a matter or case. Put together, they name the listed items you must agree to: the terms. Sound hook: jouken is the JOker's KEN-tract, full of conditions.
条 — 攵 (tap) + 木 (tree); originally 攸 + 木
Originally written with 攸 (a flowing stream) over 木 (tree), 条 depicted slender twigs or branches of a tree. The meaning extended from 'thin branch' to any long, narrow item, then to 'strip,' 'item,' or 'article' as a measure word. The modern simplified form keeps 攵 over 木.
件 — person radical 亻 + ox 牛
件 combines the person radical 亻 with 牛 (ox). Originally it referred to dividing or counting items, with oxen being valuable units of property to count. It came to mean a measurable item or matter, and today serves as a measure word for things, documents, and affairs.