行列
ぎょうれつ · gyouretsu · JLPT N2 · noun
line
🐜 行 (go, row) + 列 (line, column): things going in a line, like a queue or procession
The same two characters give the math term: 行 means row and 列 means column, so a matrix is a grid of rows and columns lined up.
行 — crossroads pictograph (left 彳 + right 亍)
行 originally pictured a four-way crossroads in oracle bone script, with two paths meeting. From 'road' it extended to 'walk, go, travel,' and then to 'a row, line' or 'business firm' (read háng). The two halves 彳 and 亍 are the split sides of that ancient crossroads.
列 — 歹 (bone fragments) + 刂 (knife)
Originally depicted cutting bones apart with a knife, showing the act of separating things into pieces. The meaning extended from 'to divide' to 'arrange in a row' or 'sequence,' since dividing items naturally produces an ordered series. Today it primarily means 'row,' 'line,' or 'to list.'