破産
はさん · hasan · JLPT N3 · noun
bankruptcy
💸 破 break + 産 property = your assets broken apart
破 means break or tear, as in 破る (yaburu, to tear). 産 means property or assets, as in 財産 (zaisan, fortune). When your property breaks, you are bankrupt. Sound hook: hasan sounds like Ha! Sunk, said of a fortune that went under.
破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'