立ち止まる
たちどまる · tachidomaru · JLPT N2 · verb-godan
to stand still
🛑 立ち止まる = 立つ (stand) + 止まる (stop): halt right where you stand
立つ means to stand up, and 止まる means to stop or come to rest. Put together, they describe stopping in place and standing still.
立 — person standing on ground (大 over 一)
Pictograph of a person standing with arms outstretched on the ground line below. The original oracle bone form clearly shows a frontal human figure planted on the earth. The core meaning 'to stand' extended to 'establish, set up, erect.'
止 — pictograph of a foot/toe
止 originally depicted a human foot with toes, shown as a footprint on the ground. From this concrete image of a foot it came to mean 'to stop' or 'halt' — the place where a step ends. It also serves as a component in many characters relating to feet, walking, or stopping, such as 步 and 正.